Lexpert magazine features articles and columns on developments in legal practice management, deals and lawsuits of interest in Canada, the law and business issues of interest to legal professionals and businesses that purchase legal services.
Issue link: https://digital.carswellmedia.com/i/1541334
32 www.lexpert.ca Top 10 Business Decisions STEELHEAD LNG (ASLNG) LTD. V. ARC RESOURCES LTD., 2024 FCA 212 STEELHEAD LNG (ASLNG) LTD. and its limited partnership sued ARC Resources Ltd., Rockies LNG Limited Partnership, Rockies LNG GP Corp., and Birchcliff Energy Ltd. over the validity of Canadian Patent No. 3,027,085. The Federal Court of Appeal upheld the lower court's ruling invalidating nearly all patent claims, establishing important precedent for patent law in Canada. The Federal Court found 79 of 84 claims obvious and 34 of 84 anticipated by prior art known as the Talib Papers and the Sullivan Presentations. Steelhead challenged the findings, arguing that there were errors in assessing disclosure requirements and anticipation. However, the appellate court found no revers- ible error, emphasizing that Steelhead failed to demonstrate palpable and over- riding error in the trial judge's credibility assessments and factual findings. The court addressed a critical legal question regarding anticipation standards. A law firm involved in the case noted that the decision addressed what Steelhead characterized as the trial judge's introduction of "a new precon- dition for anticipation." The Federal Court of Appeal confirmed that prior art disclosing several options for how a tech- nology can be designed or made, where one of those options is the option that was patented, can invalidate the patent for lack of novelty. The court also rejected arguments that the Federal Court improperly divided patent claims into essential elements or required trial and error at the disclosure stage. Ultimately, the decision clarifies the framework for eval- uating patent validity when prior art discloses a limited number of options, providing important guidance for the business and legal community in assessing what consti- tutes a truly novel invention. • Steelhead LNG (ASLNG) Ltd. and Steelhead LNG Limited Partnership > Gilbert's LLP > Tim Gilbert, Vik Tenekjian, Kevin Siu, Andrea Rico Wolf, and Dylan Gibbs • ARC Resources Ltd., Rockies LNG Limited Partnership, Rockies LNG GP Corp., and Birchcliff Energy Ltd. > Goodmans LLP > Andrew Brodkin and Daniel Cappe CLIENTS > FIRMS > LAWYERS