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 leads the market for IP and Cannabis in the 2022 edition of The Legal 500 Canada

November 17, 2021

Smart & Biggar is pleased to share the firm’s recognition as a ‘Tier 1’ firm for Intellectual Property in the 2022 edition of The Legal 500 Canada. Smart & Biggar has received this highest ranking in The Legal 500 for the past eight consecutive years and is recognized as “a market-leading IP boutique… [supporting] clients on the full suite of IP and technology services” across Canada.

Congratulations to all of our partners recognized by the Legal 500 as leading lawyers in the guide for IP: Mark Evans, Steven Garland, François Guay, and Nancy Pei, in addition to Mark Biernacki identified in the guide as a ‘Next Generation Partner’ and Graham Hood who is named a ‘Key Lawyer’ in IP.

Once again Smart & Biggar was also recommended for Cannabis law, and partner Alice Tseng, who serves as the Industry lead for the team nationally, was recognized as a leading lawyer for her expertise in this sector of the life sciences industry. Yoon Kang, Toronto based partner, was also named as a ‘Key Lawyer’ in the high growth Cannabis industry practice.

In this latest edition, guide researchers hailed Smart & Biggar as a firm “with particularly formidable expertise in patent and trademark application filings, as well as [strength in] IP litigation. Editor’s made special mention of leading patent litigator, Sheldon Hamilton, who is noted for his work with innovative pharmaceuticals clients, and who chairs the firm’s contentious offering nationally. François Guay, who chairs the firm’s IP strategy group from its Montréal office, is cited for his “broad, high-level experience across patents, trademarks, industrial designs, copyrights and trade secrets.”

The firm’s recent highlights include several high-profile cases at the Federal Court of Appeal, most notably, the successful defence of Pampered Chef in the precedent-setting trademark infringement case of Loblaws Inc v Columbia Insurance Company, co-led by Mark Evans, Mark Biernacki and Steven Garland.

The Legal 500 rankings highlight practice area teams who provide 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 to view now.

About Smart & Biggar

Smart & Biggar is widely recognized as Canada’s leading firm for intellectual property law, with offices in Ottawa, Toronto, Montréal, 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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