Work From Home Is Driving Change In The Courts – Part II

As discussed in the first part of our article, the Courts have been proactive in ensuring that they keep functioning and allow litigation to proceed during the COVID-19 pandemic through electronic means. The recent Federal Court decision in Rovi Guides, Inc v Videotron Ltd¹, is a good example of this. The underlying action dealt with patent infringement and the trial commenced on March 9, 2020 (before the suspension period began). The hearing proceeded as an electronic trial with most documents relied on by the parties being managed through the 'eTrial Tool Kit', the Federal Court's document database managed by the Court's registry. The trial was scheduled for 22 days but after 4 days of evidence, the parties requested that the trial be adjourned given the COVID-19 outbreak and its impact on witness availability. The trial was adjourned, however the parties continued discussions on resuming the trial during the suspension period. Videotron objected to the trial being