How To Protect Commercial Interests In British Columbia Through Pre-Trial Injunctions: The Confusion Continues

Courts in British Columbia continue to struggle with when a pre-trial injunction should be issued to protect commercial interests. One aspect of this concerns the existence of evidence necessary to show that damage to an ongoing business amounts to irreparable harm. Another concerns the correct formulation of the test for granting a pre-trial injunction: is irreparable harm a free-standing requirement or is it part of a larger requirement that the "balance of convenience" favour the granting of the injunction?

Very recently, in Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centre v. Charbonneau, 2017 BCCA 395, a division of the B.C. Court of Appeal addressed each of these points. In the result, the Court reversed a lower court's decision to grant an injunction to the plaintiff, who alleged copyright infringement and breach of contract by the defendants.