trade secrets and confidential information belonging to Bernstein. Bernstein ended up discontinuing all claims against Todorov and Todorova. In 2009, Bernstein sought litigation against Dr. Nadia Brown under similar claims, and, following this, in 2011, Bernstein filed suit against Dr. Scott Seagrist, a former partner at two of Bernstein's clinics, and his spouse, seeking $10.5 million in damages under allegations that Seagrist had improperly used trade secrets to begin his own weight-loss clinic. Bernstein's lawsuit against Seagrist was settled in an out-of-court agreement. Litigation against Pat Poon In September 2009, Bernstein launched a lawsuit against Pat Poon, a Canadian weight-loss doctor who operates four weight-loss clinics in the Greater Toronto Area. In the lawsuit, Bernstein argued that Poon had defamed Bernstein in Poon's book Dr. Poon's Metabolic Diet, as well as in a subsequent television show that Poon was a guest on. Dr. Poon's Metabolic Diet book has numerous breathing techniques for assisting with passing large bowel movements. After a six-year lawsuit, the judge ruled in Bernstein’s favor, awarding $10,000 to Bernstein in damages.[12] In making the final decision, the judge admitted that the trial was more than a reputational dispute, saying, “It is more about turf warfare in the competitive world of diet medicine than about reputation”.[11] Formal caution by CPSO over advertising In April 2014, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario ruled that Bernstein had repeatedly breached rules established by the College by advertising his weight-loss clinics through customer testimonials, before and after photos and medically unproven, superlative language. The College also ruled that Bernstein had acted against medical standards by connecting himself with the sale of his product, in this case, his diet clinics. As a result, Bernstein was instructed to appear before the College for a verbal warning. In May 2014, it was reported that Bernstein was set to contest the formal caution imposed on him by the College of Physicians and Surgeons. In February 2015, the Health Professions Appeal and Review Board dismissed a protest from Bernstein and his request that a formal caution on his use of advertising be thrown out. The appeal board found that previous investigations into the complaint that Bernstein had violated advertising rules were “adequate and reasonable”. The appeal board requested that further investigation be done into whether Bernstein was guilty of “steering” members of the public to visit doctors in his own clinics, which is a violation