Smart & Biggar celebrated wins at the MIP Americas Awards 2025

Smart & Biggar is proud to announce its continued recognition as one of the leading intellectual property firms in Canada at the Managing IP Americas Awards 2025.

This year, the firm is honoured to have received the following awards:  

• Firm of the Year – Copyright – Canada
• Firm of the Year – Patent Prosecution – Canada

Additionally, two of our distinguished principals were recognized for their individual excellence:

• Christian Bolduc – Practitioner of the Year (Trademark Prosecution) – Canada
• Guillaume Lavoie Ste-Marie – Practitioner of the Year (Copyright) – Canada

Notably, Smart & Biggar also received the Impact Case of the Year award for our work in Tekna Plasma Systems Inc v AP&C Advanced Powders & Coatings Inc (2024 FC 871). This is a rare case where the majority of the claims of the two patents at issue were invalid on the basis of ambiguity. The Federal Court's decision emphasized the importance of the predictability of the monopoly claimed by a patent. Tekna was successfully represented by our litigators François Guay, Jeremy Want, Jean-Sébastien Dupont, Matthew Burt and Audrey Berteau.

The awards gala was held at the Gotham Hall in New York City on Thursday, April 24, 2025. Managing Director Matthew Zischka, Principals Christian Bolduc, Jean Sebastien Dupont and Guillaume Lavoie Ste-Marie represented the firm at the event.

These awards acknowledge the strength and leadership of our lawyers, patent and trademark agents, and we are proud to celebrate this recognition as IP leaders in Canada.

The full list of Managing IP Americas Award winners is available online.