Lexpert highlights Québec’s top intellectual property lawyers as we unveil the results of our latest comprehensive yearly peer survey. See the complete list of the province’s most recommended lawyers and law firms in the field in our practice area rankings.
The Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) defines intellectual property as one’s legal rights resulting from intellectual activity in the industrial, scientific, literary and artistic fields. Intellectual property law deals with the rules for securing and enforcing these legal rights.
In our survey, IP law involves the provision of advice and representation in all matters relating to origination, exploitation and protection of inventions, patents, trademarks, copyright, moral rights, industrial designs, brand names, trade secrets and data.
Most frequently recommended intellectual property lawyers
Christian Bolduc
Law firm: Smart & Biggar
Year called to the Bar: 1994
City: Montréal
Christian Bolduc is a partner at Smart & Biggar’s Montréal office. He boasts 25 years of experience across all stages of the trademark life cycle and is passionate about helping clients generate ROI and value from strategically developed intellectual property assets. Bolduc’s trademark practice consists primarily of procurement, oppositions and cancellation proceedings, management, strategic counselling and enforcement. He routinely prepares and prosecutes trademark applications and prepares opinions on availability, registrability, validity and infringement. Bolduc is a fellow of the Intellectual Property Institute of Canada (IPIC), where he is past chair of the international trademark issues committee. He also holds membership with the International Trademark Association (INTA), where he chairs of the Canada subcommittee of the legislation and regulation committee, APRAM and ECTA. Bolduc is a registered trademark agent.
Read more about Smart & Biggar in boosting tech IP during the pandemic
Laurent Carrière
Law firm: Robic, LLP
Year called to the Bar: 1978
City: Montréal
Laurent Carrière is partner at Robic, LLP. He specializes in trademarks and copyrights, with an emphasis on prosecution, litigation and alternative dispute resolution. Carrière also serves as counsel on IP assets management and publishing, entertainment and information and communications technology law. He is the editor-in-chief of the ROBIC Canadian Copyright Act Annotated and the ROBIC Canadian Trade-Marks Act Annotated and co-author of ROBIC Loi canadienne sur les marques de commerce annotée, all published by Carswell. Carrière also publishes regularly on various IP issues and is a frequent lecturer on the matter. He has been the editor-in-chief of Les Cahiers de propriété intellectuelle since 1997 and has been putting together the annual conference of the continuing legal education program of the Québec Bar with respect to intellectual property since 1995. Carrière is a registered trademark agent.
François Guay
Law firm: Smart & Biggar
Year called to the Bar: 1982
City: Montréal
François Guay is the managing partner at Smart & Biggar’s Montréal office. He boasts more than 35 years of in-depth intellectual property litigation experience and is among the most experienced IP litigators in Canada. Guay has appeared before the courts of Québec and the Federal Court of Canada. His case work in Marlboro Canada Limited v. Philip Morris Products SA and Bell Canada et al. v. 1326030 Ontario Inc dba ITVBox.net et al. were both recognized with a Milestone Case of the Year Award from Managing Intellectual Property. Guay is a fellow at the IPIC and a member of the Canadian Bar Association, INTA and the International Wine Lawyers Association. LLL. He is a registered trademark agent.
Read more about Smart & Biggar on IP protection in agribusiness and cannabis sectors
Consistently recommended intellectual property lawyers
Catherine Bergeron
Law firm: Robic, LLP
Year called to the Bar: 2001
City: Montréal
Catherine Bergeron is a partner at Robic, LLP. She specializes in all areas of trademark law, including prosecution, litigation and the strategic management of trademark portfolios. As part of her core practice areas, Bergeron has developed an expertise in administrative proceedings before the Registrar of Trademarks, including opposition and cancellation proceedings, as well as appeals of the Registrar’s decisions before the Federal Court. Bergeron is frequently called upon to negotiate and draft settlement agreements for the benefit of local and international clients. In addition to her trademark practice, she regularly provides advice on copyright matters and regulatory advertising matters such as packaging and labelling practice and language requirements under the Charter of the French Language.
Chantal Desjardins
Law firm: Lavery, de Billy, L.L.P.
Year called to the Bar:
City: Montréal
Chantal Desjardins is a partner, lawyer and trademark agent at Lavery, de Billy, L.L.P.’s intellectual property group and a member of the firm’s board of directors. She contributes actively to the development of her clients’ rights in this field, which includes the protection of trademarks, industrial designs, copyright, domain names and other related forms of intellectual property. Desjardins represents clients in the examination of applications, opposition proceedings and litigation in Canada and in other countries. She negotiates licences and technology transfers and advises and defends clients’ rights in the field of advertising and labelling, and other topics such as the Charter of the French language. Desjardins also regularly gives conferences and seminars and publishes articles on IP matters.
Read more about Lavery, de Billy, L.L.P. in rewriting the M&A playbook during the pandemic
Barry Gamache
Law firm: Robic, LLP
Year called to the Bar: 1987
City: Montréal
Barry Gamache is a partner at Robic, LLP, where he specializes in trademark law. He has been practising in the field for more than three decades. His practice focuses on, but is not limited to, disputes concerning trademark law, for the most part, before the Federal Court and the Federal Court of Appeal. Gamache is a registered trademark agent and an active litigator. He has represented clients before various courts, including the Court of Appeal of Québec, the Federal Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada. He has also participated in numerous hearings before the Opposition Board of the Trademarks Office. Gamache is the author of several articles on topics of interest relating to trademarks and one of the editors of the Canadian Trade-Marks Act Annotated. He is a lecturer at Université de Montréal’s Faculty of Law, where he has been involved with the moot court program since 1998. Several rulings in cases he had argued have impacted trademark law and are now relied upon by the legal community.
Jean-Philippe Mikus
Law firm: Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP
Year called to the Bar: 1995
City: Montréal
Jean-Philippe Mikus is a partner at Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP. He devotes his practice to technology and intellectual property law. Milkus combines in-depth knowledge and strategic thinking to help companies in the software, entertainment, consumer products, natural resources, social networks, online services, e-commerce and manufacturing industries. He expertly acts for companies as a trademark agent and advises them on their global trademark strategy. Milkus appears before the courts and specialized boards. He has extensive experience in oppositions, cancellations and appeals in trademark matters. Milkus has also authored many reference works on IP and technologies. He is a skilled negotiator and advises clients in many specialized matters, often with an international component, including software development and other technology agreements, research contracts, trademark and patent purchase and licensing agreements, technology distribution and partnership agreements, shared marketing agreements and cloud computing service agreements (SaaS).
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Marek Nitoslawski
Law firm: Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP
Year called to the Bar: 1984
City: Montréal
Marek Nitoslawski is a seasoned intellectual property litigator and serves as a partner at Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP. He has represented clients in cross-national patent litigation involving electronics, aeronautics and recreational vehicles. Nitoslawski’s profound knowledge on all fields of intellectual property, whether it be patents, designs, trademarks, copyright, trade secrets or unfair competition, allow him to draw on and combine the underlying concepts for maximum advantage. He is particularly adept at coordinating transnational disputes and ensuring that the strategy adopted in Canada conforms with what is being done elsewhere. Nitoslawski also has an active trademarks practice, where he manages portfolios large and small in the cosmetics, life sciences, clothing, food and alcoholic beverages industries. Nitoslawski has a particular affinity for packaging and trade dress issues, and anything to do with unconventional marks such as sounds, moving marks and smells.
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Nicolas Sapp
Law firm: Robic, LLP
Year called to the Bar: 1993
City: Québec City
Nicolas Sapp is a registered trademark agent and the managing partner at Robic, LLP’s office in Québec. He specializes in all areas of intellectual property law, particularly in patents, trademarks, copyrights and industrial designs, for which he renders legal opinions. Sapp’s practice also involves litigation and alternative dispute resolution in matters such as trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, patents and industrial designs. He also boasts expertise in the drafting and negotiating of commercial conventions, namely licence, assignment and distribution agreements. Sapp advises clients in the management of IP portfolios.
Bob H. Sotiriadis
Law firm: Robic, LLP
Year called to the Bar: 1984
City: Montréal
Bob H. Sotiriadis is a partner at Robic, LLP. He specializes in litigation in all areas of industrial and intellectual property law. Sotiriadis boasts extensive experience in licensing and transactional intellectual property, including strategic IP management, due diligence and auditing. He is also well-versed in the management and commercialization of IP rights. Sotiriadis is a registered trademark agent.