Two software companies wanted to integrate their software
products. The relationship soured and one of the parties - McHenry
- purported to terminate the Software Licensing and Development
Agreement and then launched a lawsuit in the Federal Court in the
US, claiming copyright infringement and breach of contract. The
other party - ARAS - countered by invoking the mandatory
arbitration clause in the software agreement. The US court
compelled the parties to resolve their dispute through arbitration
in Vancouver. After the arbitration, the arbitrator's decision
was appealed in the BC Supreme Court. In that appeal, McHenry
sought a "sealing order" asking the BC court, in
effect, to order confidentiality over the March 26, 2014
Arbitration Award itself. This
is because ARAS, who prevailed at arbitration, circulated the
arbitration award to others.
