Smart & Biggar ranked #1 again for Intellectual Property in The Legal 500 Canada, 2023 edition

Smart & Biggar is pleased to share the firm’s ongoing recognition as a ‘Top Tier’ firm for Intellectual Property in the latest edition of The Legal 500 Canada, for the ninth consecutive year.

Editors of the guide affirmed Smart & Biggar’s status as “Canada’s leading IP and technology boutique, leveraging over 130 years in the market and five offices nationally”. The firm was also ranked for its multi-disciplinary expertise working with clients in the Cannabis sector and noted as a “one-stop-shop for all cannabis-related matters”.

In addition to the firm rankings, a total of 18 principals were recognized for their expertise in advising clients on a wide range of matters related to Trademarks, Patents and Designs, Copyrights, and including specialty areas of Life Sciences and Regulatory Compliance. Three lawyers are recognized as ‘Leading Individuals’, two are highlighted as ‘Next Generation Partners’ and one as a ‘Rising Star’, while nine more individuals are included as ‘Recommended Lawyers’. Additionally, three of our most accomplished IP litigators are included in the new ‘Hall of Fame’ category. 

Selected client testimonials for Smart & Biggar featured in the guide:

• “Their depth of IP knowledge is an asset.”
• “Excellent, pragmatic and business oriented legal advice. Always on top of things.”
• “The team is innovative and efficient. They will provide several options, where available, and have a good grasp of business imperatives.”
• “They are practical and respond to the actual question asked. Their knowledge of the pharmaceutical landscape is impressive.”
• “They put together small teams to keep costs down.”

Individual Rankings

Congratulations to all our Smart & Biggar lawyers who earned recognition in the 2023 edition of The Legal 500 Canada:

Hall of Fame:

Mark Evans – Intellectual Property

• “Mark Evans is a star name for trademark protection, management and counselling, also enjoy[s] a track record in precedent-setting disputes.”

Steven Garland – Intellectual Property

• “Steven Garland has undertaken all-manner of critical disputes for names such as Amazon, McDonald’s and Shell.”

François Guay – Intellectual Property

• “François has notably provided representation in over 100 jurisprudence cases including those with patent, industrial design and copyright elements.”

Leading Individuals:

Mark Biernacki – Intellectual Property

• “[Mark is] an up-and-coming partner for all manner of disputes, including trademark, copyright, patent and industrial design proceedings within the higher courts.”

Yoon Kang – Intellectual Property, also “Recommended” for Cannabis

• “[Yoon’s] depth of knowledge is impressive, very efficient.”
• “Yoon Kang was extremely responsive and available to talk through strategy.”

Nancy Pei – Intellectual Property

• “[Nancy has] excellent research skills and attention to detail, excellent grasp of the whole environment.”
• “Nancy is a market leader for pharmaceutical patents and litigation, as well as operations within the life sciences sector.”

Next Generation Partners:

Graham Hood – Intellectual Property

• “Graham Hood (one of our global top 3 attorneys)”

Urszula Wojtyra – Intellectual Property

• “I would highlight two stand-out partners, Yoon Kang and Urszula Wojtyra.”
• “Both [Yoon Kang] and Urszula Wojtyra are highly knowledgeable in their area, smart intellectual property lawyers, have a vast amount of experience, and are also nice and easy individuals to work with.”

Rising Stars:

Guillaume Lavoie Ste-Marie – Intellectual Property

Recommended Lawyers:

Jean-Sébastien Dupont – Intellectual Property

Sheldon Hamilton – Intellectual Property

• “Sheldon [offers] excellent persuasive and cohesive arguments and [is] very practical.”

Daphne Lainson – Intellectual Property

Kwan T. Loh – Cannabis

• “Kwan Loh offers excellent service with special expertise and insight.”

Alice Tseng – Cannabis

• “[Alice’s] specialisms include regulatory, marketing and advertising matters within pharmaceutical, cannabis and medical device industries.”

Elliott Simcoe – Intellectual Property

Kohji Suzuki – Intellectual Property

Jeremy Want – Intellectual Property

Matthew Zischka – Intellectual Property

Smart & Biggar’s complete listing in The Legal 500 can be viewed online. 

About The Legal 500 Canada

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.