People

Smart & Biggar is Canada’s largest and highest ranked intellectual property firm. Our reputation and strength is a measure of the quality of our people, and we are proud to have the broadest and deepest bench for IP in Canada. With over 180 lawyers, patent agents and trademark agents, we offer legal expertise and technological knowledge across a wide range of industries and scientific and engineering disciplines, with leaders in every field.

Services

Today’s fast-paced innovation economy demands a higher level of expertise and attention to detail when it comes to IP. Our highly skilled team of lawyers, patent agents and trademark agents advise clients on a wide variety of strategic business, brand and technology matters leveraging their deep expertise in intellectual property to help them succeed with IP.

Industries

Across all industries, intellectual property is at the heart of innovation and is key to accelerating business value and growth. Developing a clear IP strategy and knowing how to tap and leverage IP to align with business goals can unlock competitive advantages and make the difference between industry leaders and followers.

Insights

At the forefront of IP in Canada, and actively involved as leaders in industry committees and associations, we stay up-to-date and proactively report on the latest developments in intellectual property law in Canada and around the world. Breaking IP news, changes in the law, important new decisions, and information on key IP issues are provided here through our IP publications and resources.

Careers

Many of the world's most commercially important innovators and most prominent brands trust Smart & Biggar to protect and enforce their IP and to provide them with strategic IP counsel. We have developed a reputation as a firm of talented lawyers and patent and trademark agents with integrity, business savvy and tremendous acumen. That’s why we look for the brightest people with combined talent and strengths in law, business, science and technology.

Who we are

Smart & Biggar is widely recognized as Canada’s leading firm for intellectual property, and with over 180 lawyers, patent agents and trademark agents in six offices, we are also Canada’s largest firm focused purely on IP and related specialty areas.

Rankings & Recognition

Smart & Biggar a ‘market-leading IP boutique’ in 2021 edition of The Legal 500 Canada

November 13, 2020

Smart & Biggar is pleased to share the firm’s recognition as a ‘Tier 1’ firm for Intellectual Property in the 2021 edition of The Legal 500 Canada. Smart & Biggar has received this highest ranking in Legal 500 for the past seven consecutive years.

Smart & Biggar is recognized as “a market-leading IP boutique, with specialists in a full range of IP matters. A top choice for high-stakes disputes, the team acts for [IP] rights owners across a huge variety of industry sectors”

Smart & Biggar boasts five partners recognized as leading lawyers in IP. Congratulations to Mark Evans, Gunars Gaikis, Steven Garland, François Guay, and Mark Biernacki. In addition, Sheldon Hamilton has been identified by the guide as a recommended lawyer in IP. The firm was also recognized in Cannabis law with partner Alice Tseng recommended for her expertise in this field.

Guide researchers credit Smart & Biggar as having built “a particularly strong reputation in the areas of pharmaceuticals and life sciences”, making special mention of litigation practice leader Sheldon Hamilton, and of counsel Gunars Gaikis, for their expertise in complex pharmaceutical litigation. François Guay is noted as “a hugely experienced litigator with expertise covering patents, trademarks, copyright and industrial designs.” Toronto managing partner Mark Evans is cited in the guide as being “an authority on trademark protection, management and counselling services.” Mark Biernacki is also recognized for his work in trademark litigation and prosecution.

The firm’s work highlights include high stakes matters for clients across industries, including:

Successful representation of Bell Media Inc., Rogers Media Inc., and Groupe TVA Inc. in litigation against the anonymous operators, two of Canada’s most popular unauthorized IPTV services, operating under the name “GoldTV”;
Successful representation of Pampered Chef in litigation involving its PC logo, and alleged infringement of Loblaws’ “PC” trademark;
Successful representation of the Land Title Survey Authority of British Columbia as intervenors at the Supreme Court of Canada in a copyright-related class action brought on behalf of approximately 350 land surveyors of Ontario whose plans of survey were scanned and copied into the respondent Teranet’s digital database and made available online.

The Legal 500 rankings highlight practice area teams who are providing the most cutting edge and innovative advice to corporate counsel. The guide’s research is based on feedback from 300,000 clients worldwide, submissions from law firms and interviews with leading private practice lawyers, and a team of experienced legal market researchers. The full intellectual property rankings for The Legal 500 Canada are available here.

Smart & Biggar is widely recognized as Canada’s leading firm for intellectual property law, with offices in Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and Calgary. We are leaders in intellectual property and technology law and have been serving clients for over a century.

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