Q: Can Parallel Importation be Prevented under the Canadian Copyright Act?
A: The parallel importation (also known as grey marketing) of genuine goods into Canada by unauthorized persons has been the subject of debate and legal action for some time. Most recently, a manufacturer has attempted to prevent parallel importation using copyright law as a sword, albeit unsuccessfully on the facts of that case.
On July 26, 2007, in Euro-Excellence Inc. v. Kraft Canada Inc., the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the holder of an exclusive license to the Canadian copyright interests in product packaging cannot rely on the Copyright Act to prevent an unauthorized distributor from competitively importing and selling those products. The question remains whether an owner by assignment of those copyright interests and rights can rely on the legislation to prevent this parallel importation. A majority of the justices of the Supreme Court appear to have concluded that an assignee can receive such
