Smart & Biggar/Fetherstonhaugh

A collaboration operating in union for a century on average, Smart & Biggar/Fetherstonhaugh is Canada's largest intellectual property firm and the only one to grow to national levels solely on the strength of this exclusive practice focus. One peer testifies, "Pound for pound, they are on the highest end of competency, and I'm always happy to see them on a file because there's less artificial positioning and more cut-to-the-chase action. And look at the diversity there! It's not just all pharma work for one client, like [it is for] certain other shops." A client remarks, "What many IP 'litigators' often forget is that, no matter how well you know this stuff, you have to translate it in a way that actually wins cases. You never have to worry about that with Smart & Biggar – their litigators never forget that trial skills are just as important a piece in the IP puzzle as the scientific minutiae." The firm attends to all manner of IP disputes regarding trademarks, patents, copyrights, designs, licenses, and general media issues. Smart & Biggar arguably sees its greatest strength and depth in Ontario, where it maintains an office in the commercial epicenter of Toronto as well as one in the capital city of Ottawa, a locale which is not only very attractive to IP litigators due to its proximity to the Federal Court but also due it to its status as a rapidly developing hotbed for the technology sector. Perhaps the firm's most visible appointment of late is its acting as co-counsel for Dow Chemical in its hard-fought infringement battle with Nova. Ottawa's Steven Garland triumphed for Dow when the client was awarded approximately $650 million dollars (CAD) in July 2017 as a result of the infringement. Although the matter is presently under appeal, Garland's victory is roundly recognized as a substantial one. "This is one of the biggest patent cases in Canada at the moment, and Steven and his team knocked it out of the park," chirps a peer. Smart & Biggar lays claim to another major recent patent win, this one on behalf of AstraZeneca in a landmark pharmaceutical patent case in which the Supreme Court of Canada in June 2017 struck down the utility "promise doctrine" and upheld AstraZeneca's NEXIUM patent as useful. Toronto's Gunars Gaikis, acknowledged by peers as "a pillar of the IP community, a true patent guru," led the team for AstraZeneca. Mark Biernacki is lead counsel for Nintendo in an application brought by the client against respondents for copyright infringement and circumvention of technological protection measures The case was heard in the fall of 2016, and in 2017 the Federal Court found for Nintendo and awarded $12.76 million in damages, including $1 million in punitive damages. Mark Evans remains busy with trademark work, including a 2016 injunction case concerning two law firms, and an upcoming trial for Diageo concerning alleged infringement of its Captain Morgan brand. He is also engaged in a pending action for copyright infringement relating to photographs by famed photographer Vivian Maier.

A collaboration operating in union for a century on average, Smart & Biggar/Fetherstonhaugh is Canada's largest intellectual property firm and the only one to grow to national levels solely on the strength of this exclusive practice focus. Peers confirm, "Smart & Biggar is the biggest and the deepest IP shop in Canada." The firm estimates that it devotes 25% of its overall practice to contentious issues, and it has been observed that it "seems to be growing its litigation practice." The firm attends to all manner of IP disputes regarding trademarks, patents, copyrights, designs, licenses, and general media issues. The firm is still relatively new to Québec, having opened an office in Montréal in 1990, but has quickly ascended to a comfortable position amongst the province's premier players in IP. In Montréal, the firm's "leading light" is considered to be François Guay, who maintains a varied practice, roughly 65% of which finds him acting for plaintiffs who have had their intellectual property infringed. "I actually think of him as more of a litigator and less as just an IP guy," endorses a peer. Guay, fresh off of a trademark infringement win on behalf of Imperial Tobacco in a February 2016 Court of Appeal ruling, was at it again in June of that year when the Federal Court issued an interlocutory injunction against retailers of set-top boxes that are configured, or "pre-loaded", with various applications that provide their users with unauthorized access to copyrighted television content. The claim is based on allegations of direct and secondary copyright infringement, and on a cause of action under the Radiocommunication Act.