In the decision rendered earlier this month, Justice Roger Lafrenière determined that Dhillon fell “well short of establishing a serious issue to be tried or that they will suffer irreparable harm if the injunctive relief requested is not granted. The entire premise of the Plaintiffs’ claim of copyright is nonsensical,” Justice Roger Lafrenière Lefrenière wrote.
ABBOTSFORD – Supreme Court of Canada dismissed an Abbotsford-based Indo-Canadian man’s lawsuit, calling it “nonsensical” and ordering him to pay the Maxime Bernier led People’s Party Of Canada $20,000 in costs
The always in the courts guy Satinder Dhillon of Abbotsford filed a lawsuit alleging Bernier’s party has infringed on his trademark and copyright of the same name of Dhillon’s own People’s Party Of Canada.
In the decision rendered earlier this month, Justice Roger Lafrenière determined that Dhillon fell “well short of establishing a serious issue to be tried or that they will suffer irreparable harm if the injunctive relief requested is not granted,” reported Abby News
“The entire premise of the Plaintiffs’ claim of copyright is nonsensical,” Lefrenière wrote.
The copyright registered for the People’s Party of Canada applies to “communication signals,” something that only a broadcaster can copyright. Dhillon claimed that by sharing a 2015 Times of Canada article in which he is quoted referencing a “People’s Party of Canada,” he counted as a broadcaster. Lefrenière was not convinced by that argument, reported Abby News.
As for the trademark, the court ruled that, although Dhillon mentions a “People’s Party of Canada” in an article, it does not distinguish it as a political party.
Dhillon claimed to spend “countless hours building rapport, support and political clout” for his political party, but “the evidence before me suggests that the Plaintiffs have taken no active steps to promote their party since 2015,” Lafrenière wrote.
“After almost three years of apparent inactivity, the Plaintiffs rushed to protect their party’s name on the same day that the Defendants began promoting theirs. More likely than not, this is not a coincidence.”
Bernier’s party sought $40,000 in relief from Dhillon and his party, which countered that costs should be $5,000 to $7,000.
The court, however, landed near the middle, at $20,000.
“Given that the Defendants were entirely successful in resisting the confusing and essentially baseless motion, I conclude that costs should be awarded at an elevated scale.”
While Dhillon claimed that he isn’t stopping despite the strong ruling against him, saying he’s taking his fight to “the highest court in the land” but that might just be his usual bravado as he also admitted that he’s considering changing the name of his party to participate in the next federal election, which is this October.
Dhillon filed trademark and copyright applications in September, shortly following Bernier’s announcement that he was intending to create a People’s Party of Canada.
Even if Dhillon goes ahead with his appeal or to the Supreme Court of Canada – he’s not gonna have much luck as Supreme Court of Canada is a tough nut to crack – of the 600 applications the country’s top court receives per year, only about 80 are accepted, according to the SCC website. The Federal Court of Appeal, too, could pass on the lawsuit if it’s deemed “vexatious,” or an abuse of process.
