PRACTICE |
Discovery |
Anton Piller Orders |
Viacom Ha! Holding Co. v. Persons Unknown
T-550-99
Tremblay-Lamer J.
14/4/00
42 pp.
Defendants moving to set aside Anton Piller order; plaintiffs moving to review Anton Piller order and to add defendants--Order arising from sale of counterfeit merchandise bearing Comedy Partners (South Park), Nintendo, Disney and Looney Tunes intellectual properties from business premises--Plaintiffs' motion allowed; defendants' motion dismissed--Strong prima facie case for plaintiffs' claim--Strong prima facie case of infringement against proposed defendants--Serious damages: lack of quality or safety control resulting in damage to reputation, diminishing goodwill associated with merchandise, lost sales--Likelihood of destruction of evidence: defendants admit they intend to send counterfeit merchandise back to suppliers in China for credit--Anton Piller orders not contrary to Charter, s. 8--Court order not element of governmental action within meaning of Charter, s. 32 when order granted to resolve private litigation based on common law--Execution of Anton Piller order, process civil in nature, not subject to search and seizure requirement of prior authorization based on existence of reasonable and probable grounds--Credibility of proposed defendants' evidence suspect--Orders properly executed--Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, being Part I of the Constitution Act, 1982, Schedule B, Canada Act 1982, 1982, c. 11 (U.K.) [R.S.C., 1985, Appendix II, No. 44], ss. 8, 32.