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PREDATORYPRICINGCLAIMDOESNOTFLYWITHFEDERALCOURTINCASE
INVOLVINGFREEONLINEAVIATIONEXAMGUIDES
AdamMizera*
LEGERROBICRICHARD,Lawyers
ROBIC,Patent&TrademarkAgents
CentreCDPCapital
1001Square-Victoria–BlocE–8
thFloor
Montreal,Québec,CanadaH2Z2B7
Tel.:(514)987-6242-Fax(514)845-7874
E-mail:info@robic.com–WebSite:www.robic.ca
Canada’sFederalCourtrecentlyruledthatofferingfreeon-lineCanadian
aviationexamguidesdidnotconstituteanactofpredatorypricingunder
Canada’sCompetitionAct,R.S.C.,1985,c.C-34.(Culhanev.ATPAero
TrainingProducts,2004FC535(April6,2004,O’Keefe,J.;appealfiledonJune
28,2004)).
Facts
Theplaintiff,MichaelCulhane,isanauthorandapublisherofagroupof
aviationpublications,includingpracticeexamguidesavailableforsaleon
theplaintiff’swebsite,inpaperorelectronicformat.
Thedefendant,ATPAeroTrainingProducts(hereinafter“ATP”)isalsoa
publisheranddistributorofaviationbooksandexamguides.Theguideswere
soldforapriceuntil1997.However,intheearly1990s,someguideswere
givenawaywithorders.After1997,ATPbeganofferingfreeon-lineguideson
theinternetinexchangeofthee-mailaddressofthewebsitevisitor.
Theplaintiffclaimedthattheavailabilityoffreeon-lineexaminationswasthe
causeofadecreaseinsalesoftheplaintiff’scompetingpublications.For
example,theplaintiffwasofferingonlineexamsforpricesrangingbetween
$19.95and$24.95andincludingtheprovisionofexamresultstotheuser
within48hours.Arequiredtextbookwasalsomadeavailableatanadditional
cost.Ontheotherhand,thedefendant’son-lineexamsweregraded
automaticallyforfreewithresultssenttotheuserinstantly,withsuggestionsof
otherusefulpublicationstoconsult.