Inspection of documents

Inspection of documents are when documents are inspected by someone. The right to look at and copy the opposition party's papers in a case which are relevant to the lawsuit.

Demands

A demand (or legal request) can be made in accordance with subsection 10(2) of the Patent Act, but the category or class of documents must be stated so that the other party can know what he/she/it must produce. If the opposition either refuses to produce some documents or appears to hold back, the party wanting to see the documents can bring a motion to produce requesting a court order to produce and a number of penalty sanctions to be paid for failure to honour the demand. The document being inspected must be tied back to a parent. A party may also use a subpoena duces tecum to obtain specific documents if they are thought to exist.

Procedures

Inspection of document(s) is to be carried out under supervision. All of these procedures are part of the discovery process, which is intended to give both sides extensive information before trial. The request may, without leave of court, be served on the plaintiff after commencement of the action and on any other party with or after service of the summons and complaint on that party. Such exchanging of documents can lead to a settlement, as well as minimising surprises at trial, and keep one side from hiding material away and, therefore, preventing the other from being able to introduce relevant material at the trial.