Smart & Biggar leads the industry for Trademarks with five partners ranked as WTR Global Leaders

Smart & Biggar is pleased to share that five partners have been named among the world’s most notable trademark practitioners in the third edition of World Trademark Review (WTR) Global Leaders Guide. Congratulations to Christian Bolduc, Mark Evans, François Guay, Sanjay Goorachurn and Philip Lapin on this distinguished recognition.

Earlier this year, each of these partners were named in WTR 1000 The World’s Leading Trademark Professionals, recognizing the top Trademark practitioners in private practice. WTR researchers lauded Smart & Biggar for our “success across the brand spectrum, from prosecution and strategy to litigation, anti-counterfeiting and transactions” and “the depth and quality of [our] bench”. The firm was also honoured with a gold tier ranking.

WTR Global Leaders are recognized as the “best of the best” lawyers for Trademarks. Christian, Mark, François, Sanjay and Philip were highlighted in the guide for their outstanding client work and acclaim from colleagues on each of their strengths and accomplishments:

Christian Bolduc (prosecution and strategy, transactions) – Christian possesses deep strategic wisdom, having practised through all phases of the trademark lifecycle during his career. Clients commented that “Christian really gets trademark law and is highly commercial. It is always pleasing to have him on the other side of a case, as he looks for business resolutions.”

Mark Evans (enforcement and litigation, prosecution and strategy and anti-counterfeiting) – Mark is described as having a “rare level of experience and gravitas” and as a “fair professional who doesn’t play games”.  He provides clients with exemplary service and highly effective advice and invests wholly in helping them realize their maximum brand potential while recognizing and mitigating unforeseen risks.

François Guay (enforcement and litigation) – François has built a reputation for being “incredibly smart, completely charming and one of the best litigators there is”. As one of the most successful IP litigators in the country at the appellate level, François’ clients trust their most complex and contentious IP issues to proven track record and highly persuasive arguments in court.

Sanjay Goorachurn (transactions) – Sanjay is known in the industry as a “transactions ace” who is “one of the very best in Canada" and "a pro at creating value for companies and can always be counted on to manage the IP aspects of complex transactions with a steady hand”. He is highly experienced, articulate and creative, and “his advice leads companies to see intellectual property as an investment, not a cost, and approach it in a strategic manner”.

Philip Lapin (prosecution and strategy) - “Philip provides top-notch, practical, real-world advice rather than stiff legal analysis – he does not hedge his opinions or saddle them with so many qualifiers as to render them useless. He understands clients’ risk tolerance and really takes ownership of the advice he gives. Also incredibly valuable, is the fact that if we ask him for work that doesn’t need to be done, he tells us, rather than just doing it and charging for it”. As a result, he builds long-term relationships founded on trust.

WTR Global Leaders draws on market-leading research projects, the  WTR 1000 and  WTR 300, to identify the ‘best of the best’ in private and corporate trademark practice. The full list of global leaders is now available to view.

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.