In the Google Inc. v. Equustek Solutions Inc. case, an injunction requiring Google to globally de-index the websites of a company that was in breach of several court orders, was upheld. The case highlights the jurisdictional challenges of enforcing court orders that apply to activity on the Internet. It also demonstrates the willingness of Canadian courts to require online intermediaries, who are not engaged in or accused of any wrongful acts, to take action to prevent unlawful activity and ensure that rightsholders have access to an effective legal remedy. 

Google v. Equustek: The Background  

Equustek Solutions Inc. is a small tech company located in Burnaby, BC that had employed the use of Datalink Technology Gateways Inc. to distribute their products. In the process of distributing Equustek’s products, Datalink began to pass off one product as their own and went one step further by using Equustek’s trade secrets to create a competing product as well. Datalink was found responsible for wrongdoing and ordered to stop selling the infringing products and stop using Equustek’s infringed IP.   

Instead of doing so, Datalink ceased business in Canada and continued to operate their websites from other countries, hoping to evade court orders, which they successfully managed to do. They were then ordered to ‘cease operating or carrying on business through any website,’ which they ignored as well. At this point, Google was then brought into court after refusing to remove all of Datalink’s websites worldwide. They did de-index specific web pages only found in Canada but Datalink was able to move content to new pages to keep circumventing court orders. Google stated they would not remove worldwide results without a court order which enabled Datalink to continue doing business in defiance of the existing court orders against them, as they had already ceased business in Canada.  

Though a non-party and innocent of wrongdoing in the case between Equustek and Datalink, the court found that irreparable harm to Equustek was being facilitated via Google’s search engine. To assist Equustek in gaining an effective remedy against Datalink, the court ordered Google to de-index all of Datalink’s websites worldwide. 

How Does this Relate to Intellectual Property?  

Google v. Equustek showcases how bad actors can use the internet to circumvent jurisdiction-specific IP laws and court orders. This case is a significant one for intellectual property owners, who often face similar challenges when trying to enforce their IP rights online. It confirmed that, under the right circumstances, Canadian rightsholders may be able to seek remedies against online intermediaries to help them enforce their rights online.  

This case established some key principles regarding the power of Canadian courts to grant orders that will provide effective remedies to address wrongs committed online. Some of these principles were subsequently relied on by a group of media rightsholders to obtain the first website-blocking order in Canada, which required all major Canadian ISP’s to block traffic to websites, operated by offshore entities, that were infringing the media companies’ copyright.  

Unfortunately, Equustek’s success in obtaining a worldwide injunction against Google, was not the end of the story. When Google failed to prevent the issuance of the injunction before the Supreme Court of Canada, they turned to the courts in California to prevent enforcement of the Canadian injunction in the U.S. The California court granted Google’s request. Equustek did not appear in the U.S. courts themselves and the U.S. court decision was based on American legislation, leaving open the question of whether Equustek may have been successful had they appeared in the U.S. courts themselves or if the case had been brought forward within a different country’s jurisdiction. 

If your business is starting to see success or is potentially at risk of IP theft, connect with one of our lawyers today to learn how you can protect yourself and your business!  

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