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’s leading IP litigators featured in Lexpert Special Edition: Litigation 2021

November 25, 2021

Smart & Biggar is delighted to share that eight of our leading IP litigators have been featured in the Lexpert Special Edition: Litigation 2021.

Lexpert published its Special Edition: Litigation online and in the Globe and Mail’s Report on Business Magazine, recognizing the expertise of Canada’s leading litigators as identified through Lexpert’s annual survey of thousands of respected lawyers, corporate counsel and other legal and business professionals.

We congratulate our partners Jean-Sébastien Dupont, Mark Evans, Steven Garland, François Guay, Sheldon Hamilton, Yoon Kang, Nancy Pei and senior associate Abigail Smith for their inclusion in this special edition, reflecting their outstanding achievements as recognized by their clients, peers and colleagues.

Also featured in the special edition’s coverage of Canada’s “Top 10 business decisions” is the notable victory achieved for our client Bell Canada in Bell Canada et al v L3D Distributing Inc., 2021 FC 832 as an “Honourable Mention”. The Federal Court’s judgment against three retailers of “pre-loaded” set-top boxes and unauthorized internet protocol television services awarded nearly $30 million to the plaintiffs in statutory and punitive damages for copyright infringement, in addition to declaratory and injunctive relief. This is the largest reported amount for damages in a Canadian copyright infringement case and a significant precedent in the fight against online piracy in Canada. Bell Canada was represented by Smart & Biggar partner François Guay, senior associate, Guillaume Lavoie Ste-Marie, and counsel Ryan T. Evans.

The full list of Lexpert Special Edition: Litigation 2021 is available to view online.

Canadas’ leaders in high-stakes intellectual property litigation

Smart & Biggar is the dominant force for intellectual property litigation in Canada. Our proven team is made up of highly capable trial and appellate counsel who routinely handle some of Canada’s most commercially important and technically complex intellectual property cases. On behalf of our clients, we have obtained numerous precedent-setting judgments and record-setting damages awards, in addition to victories at all levels of court, and in all areas of IP.

As a result, we have been chosen by Benchmark Litigation as Canada’s ‘IP Litigation Firm of the Year’ for seven consecutive years. Earlier in 2021, Benchmark also named our Ottawa managing partner Steven Garland as 'IP Litigation Lawyer of the Year' and listed him among the ‘Top 50 Trial Lawyers’ in Canada for the 2nd consecutive year.

Additionally, in the most recent release of The Legal 500 Canada, the firm was recognized as a ‘Tier 1’ firm for Intellectual Property, marking the eighth consecutive year Smart & Biggar has received this highest ranking. Special mention was given to leading litigator, Sheldon Hamilton, who is noted for his work with innovative pharmaceuticals clients, and who chairs the firm’s litigation practice nationally.

Smart & Biggar was also recently named as ‘Canada’s Best Law Firm’ for Intellectual Property by the Globe and Mail / Statista Research, and “IP Boutique Firm of the Year” by Managing Intellectual Property North America Awards.

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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