In the Know

In the Know is a quarterly publication written by our lawyers on current franchising news and recent legal developments.

View pdfs: Summer 2012, Winter 2012, Fall 2011, Winter 2011, Summer 2010, Fall 2009, Spring 2009, Winter 2009, Fall 2008

Recent Blog Posts

Anti-spam act creates harsh penalties for non-compliance

Stuart Freen

Published February 29, 2012

Businesses engaged in e-marketing in Canada beware: a new anti-spam law is coming into force soon that will impose harsh penalties for non-compliance. Not limited strictly to email, the legislation prohibits the sending of all kinds of unsolicited electronic messages, which could include text messages, instant messages, and even messages on Twitter and Facebook.

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Restrictive competition covenants – Part 3

Arthur Trebilcock

Published February 27, 2012

If a court finds that a restrictive competition covenant is unenforceable, the question is whether the court will sever (delete) the offending part from the franchise agreement. Unlike U.S. courts, a Canadian court will neither re-write an unenforceable covenant nor replace it with a more reasonable covenant; the court will, however, sever the covenant (or its offending parts).

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Restrictive competition covenants – Part 2

Arthur Trebilcock

Published February 22, 2012

By definition, an in-term non-compete covenant operates contemporaneously with the other covenants in the franchise agreement that are designed to regulate the franchise relationship operationally while it continues. The in-term non-compete covenant may be a logical consequence of these other covenants (for example, a covenant to devote one’s entire working time and attention to operating the franchise), or it may be entirely unrelated to them.

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Restrictive competition covenants – Part 1

Arthur Trebilcock

Published February 14, 2012

Non-solicit, non-compete and other types of restrictive competition covenants are among the most difficult of franchise controls to properly structure. In this three part blog series, Arthur Trebilcock reviews some practical guidelines for drafting restrictive competition covenants in the Canadian franchise context.

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