- Parties: The plaintiff was John Zanin. The defendants were Ooma, Inc. and Ooma Canada Inc. 

- Subject Matter: The plaintiff brought a proposed consumer protection class action alleging that the defendants’ service breached s. 7(d) of the Trademarks Act, 1985 and ss. 52 and 54 of the Competition Act, 1985. The defendants filed a motion objecting to the court’s jurisdiction or alternatively seeking a stay pending arbitration or a summary judgment dismissing the action based on a lack of a genuine issue for trial. 

- Ruling: The court ruled in the defendants’ favour, granted their motion for a stay in favour of arbitration, and dismissed the plaintiff’s motion for certification. The court agreed with the defendants that the court lacked jurisdiction to hear the plaintiff’s proposed class proceeding since there was a clause in the arbitration agreement covering his purchase of the defendants’ service. The court also found valid and enforceable election of forum and class action waiver clauses. The court concluded that the plaintiff failed to put forward any exceptional grounds based on public policy or unconscionability. The court noted that challenges to the arbitrator’s jurisdiction should be referred to the arbitrator under the competence-competence principle. Regardless of the jurisdictional issue, the court said that the action failed on each statutory cause of action. 

- Date: The hearing was set on Jan. 10, 2025. The court released its decision on Jan. 10, 2025. 

- Venue: This was a federal case before the Federal Court. 

- Amount: The court awarded no costs.