Waiver of tort is not available as a tool to force disgorgement of profits in cases under British Columbia’s consumer protection legislation, the BC Court of Appeal held last week ... [more] Full article

Courts in two Canadian cases have recently made it easier to certify direct and indirect-purchaser class actions seeking damages for alleged price fixing. Formerly, the difficulty of proving damages suffered ... [more] Full article

A proposed class action by purchasers of electronic goods containing DRAM memory chips would degenerate into a series of individual trials, the British Columbia Supreme Court has held in Pro-Sys Consultants Ltd. v. Infineon Technologies AG.2 Key issues, including whether the plaintiffs paid more because of price-fixing by manufacturers of the chips, could not be determined on a class-wide basis. The court thus refused to certify the action as a class proceeding. [more] Full article

Can consumers who obtain a defective product for free recover profits earned by the manufacturer, even though those consumers suffer no damages whatsoever? Most non-lawyers would likely say: no. However, the Ontario Divisional Court recently affirmed a decision certifying a class action against Johnson & Johnson that raises this question. [more] Full article