The Montreal office of Norton Rose Fulbright successfully represented its client Distrimedic in a lawsuit filed in 2005 by Emballages Richards Inc./Richards Packaging Inc. (Richards) against Distrimedic Inc. (Distrimedic), alleging infringement of several intellectual property rights.  On October 15 the Federal Court (the Honourable Mr. Justice de Montigny) rendered a detailed decision dismissing the entirety of Richards’ claims.

Richards alleged that Distrimedic’s pill dispensers and various elements of Distrimedic’s pill-dispensing system were infringing upon Richards’ patent, copyright and trade-mark. It was also claimed that false and misleading statements had been made by Distrimedic when the company launched its pill dispenser in 2006.

In its reasons the Federal Court concludes, as Distrimedic asserted, that the Distrimedic pill dispenser does not incorporate the essential elements of the invention described in Richards’ patent, and that the patent is therefore not infringed.  The court also rules that Richards does not possess trade-mark rights in the colour scheme used on its pill dispenser, as it serves a purely functional purpose and is not viewed as a trade-mark by the relevant public.

Furthermore, the court confirms that no copyright subsists in the form used by Richards to enter information to be printed on the pill dispensers. The choice of information being dictated by legislation and/or utility, its selection and arrangement therefore does not meet the threshold of originality imposed by copyright law.  The court adds that in any event no evidence of infringement has been presented.  Finally, the court dismisses the allegations of false and misleading statements, finding that no satisfactory evidence was presented to support them.

The Norton Rose Fulbright team was led by partners George Locke and Madeleine Lamothe-Samson.