Smart & Biggar earns ‘Canadian Impact Case of the Year’ for Bell Media et al. v John Doe dba GoldTV in MIP Americas Awards

Smart & Biggar is proud to be awarded ‘Canadian Impact Case of the Year’ for our work on Bell Media et al. v John Doe 1 dba GoldTV.biz at the MIP 2020 Americas Awards. The case involved an unprecedented Order from the Federal Court (Canada) – the first site-blocking Order to be issued by a Canadian Court – compelling Canada’s primary internet service providers to block subscribers from accessing internet services that distributed infringing film and television content. We share this honour and recognition with our clients Bell Media, Rogers Media and Groupe TVA (the plaintiffs) and our litigation team led by François Guay, Guillaume Lavoie Ste-Marie and Olivier Jean-Lévesque, from our Montreal office.

In speaking with The Globe and Mail about the case, senior associate Guillaume Lavoie Ste-Marie explained that “[c]ontent theft remains a critical threat to Canada’s creative sector, impacting rights holders and creators across the industry and causing hundreds of millions of dollars in damages and thousands of lost jobs,” making the Order an important victory for Canadian copyright owners.

Smart & Biggar has long been recognized by Managing IP as an industry leader. The MIP America Awards are presented to firms, individuals and companies behind the most innovative and challenging IP work of the past year. In addition to ‘Canadian Impact Case of the Year’, Smart & Biggar was also presented with ‘Boutique Firm of the Year’ and ‘Canadian Trademark Contentious Firm of the Year’. Mark Evans, Managing Partner of the firm’s Toronto office, was also selected as ‘Outstanding Canadian Trademark Practitioner of the Year’.

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.