In Marsh, Christopher and Blockchain Markets Inc. v. Electronica AI Inc. and Aristotle Andrulakis, 2024 ONSC 5869, the court addressed a motion by the defendants, Electronica AI Inc. ("Electronica") and Aristotle Andrulakis, to amend their statement of defense and file a counterclaim against the plaintiffs, Christopher Marsh and Blockchain Markets Inc. ("BMI"), as well as add Bitbuy Holdings Inc. and Bitbuy Technologies Inc. as defendants by counterclaim.

Key points:

• Defendants' Request: The defendants sought to amend their defense and include a counterclaim alleging breach of contract, copyright infringement, breach of confidence, and other claims tied to the use of Electronica's intellectual property in the acquisition of BMI by First Ledger Corp. They argued they only recently discovered relevant information in 2024.
• Plaintiffs' Opposition: Plaintiffs argued the claims were statute-barred, as the defendants had knowledge of the facts needed to bring the claims by 2019 or early 2022, surpassing the two-year limitation period under the Ontario Limitations Act.
• Court’s Decision: The motion was dismissed, with the court finding that the defendants had sufficient knowledge by 2019 to initiate the counterclaim. The court also rejected the defendants' argument for a three-year limitation under the Copyright Act, as the claims were primarily based on breach of contract.
• Outcome: The defendants' delay in advancing the counterclaim was deemed unjustified, and the proposed amendments were denied due to both the expiration of the limitation period and the prejudice it would cause to the plaintiffs, including disruption of the imminent trial.

The court awarded costs of $8,500 to the plaintiffs.