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

Six Smart & Biggar patent agents and lawyers recognized as IAM Global Leaders 2023

November 22, 2022

Smart & Biggar is proud to announce that six of our patent agents and lawyers, more than any other firm in Canada, have been recognized as IAM Global Leaders 2023, for the third consecutive year.

Congratulations to our IAM Global Leaders: Gunars Gaikis, Steven Garland, François Guay, Daphne Lainson, John Knox, and Matthew Zischka for their recognition among the world’s most elite private practice patent experts.

To be included in the IAM Global Leaders Guide, individuals must rank in the gold tier of the IAM Patent 1000, the market-leading annual directory that identifies the top law firms and individuals in the world’s most significant patent jurisdictions.

Earlier this year, Smart & Biggar saw 23 patent lawyers and agents named in the main 2022 IAM Patent 1000 guide, leading the Canadian patent rankings with recognition across patent litigation, prosecution and transactions. The guide described Smart & Biggar as a firm with “an abundance of expertise in all things patents and in intellectual property more generally… [and that] offers the full range of services, whether that be devising smart protection strategies to fierce representation in disputes, and robust support on fruitful licensing deals.”

From this exclusive group, candidates for the IAM Global Leaders are selected. The criteria for selection extend beyond an individual’s expertise and experience and consider their “ability to innovate, inspire and go above and beyond to deliver value for their clients.” IAM Global Leaders is a ground-breaking publication which identifies and brings together the world’s foremost law firm experts in patent practice.

Principal Daphne Lainson was also listed as the leading expert for IP strategy in the IAM Strategy 300 guide released earlier this fall.

The full list of IAM Global Leaders 2023 is available to view now. Congratulations to our esteemed patent experts.

About Smart & Biggar

Smart & Biggar is widely recognized as Canada’s leading intellectual property firm, with offices in Montréal, Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary. We are leaders in intellectual property and have been serving clients for over a century. Smart & Biggar operates as part of the IPH Limited group, under its own brand and independent from other IPH member firms.

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