Canada’s Intellectual Property Firm

Graham Hood

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Graham Hood

Principal
  • Smart & Biggar LLP
Language(s): English

Exceptional trademark lawyer helps brand owners protect, manage and monetize their trademark portfolios

Graham is the firm’s Trademarks Practice Group Leader. As a highly experienced trademark lawyer, Graham’s counsel is sought after by brand owners focused on building and protecting their brands and reputations across Canada. Graham is trusted by clients for his actionable and business-minded advice. With over a decade of experience advising brand owners, he provides pragmatic advice to help clients achieve their goals and address risks in a cost-effective and straightforward manner. His no-nonsense approach to finding practical solutions for clients has become a personal trademark.

Graham’s practice spans all aspects of trademark counselling, prosecution and litigation. He counsels brand owners through trademark selection, clearance and prosecution, as well as opposition proceedings and section 45 non-use, cancellation proceedings before the Trademarks Opposition Board (TMOB) and invalidity expungement proceedings before the Federal Court.

Graham’s previous experience at the Trademarks Opposition Board benefits brand owners looking to defend their trademark applications and registrations before the TMOB. With a keen understanding of TMOB jurisprudence, practice and procedure, Graham regularly advises clients on complex opposition and cancellation proceedings. He counsels many famous brand owners, from leading professional sports teams to popular social media platforms to renowned consumer electronic companies to famous fashion houses, in the enforcement and protection of their IP rights in Canada.

Seasoned litigator and expert counsel for IP crime and anti-counterfeiting matters

Graham's litigation practice covers both the Federal and the provincial courts and extends to actions and summary applications for passing off, trademark and trade dress infringement, depreciation of goodwill and the importation, distribution, marketing and sale of counterfeit goods. He has established himself as a bright litigator with a proven track record of success, before both the Federal and the provincial courts.

As the firm’s leading expert in anti-counterfeiting, Graham is also experienced in developing customized, anti-counterfeiting strategies for brand owners, while protecting their marks both online, across ecommerce marketplaces and social media platforms, and at Canada’s borders, working closely with the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) to enforce clients’ trademarks and copyrights and prevent the unlawful importation of counterfeit goods and pirated works. He developed his expertise in anti-counterfeiting as the former chair of the Canadian Anti-Counterfeiting Subcommittee of the International Trademark Association, and by working closely with customs and government officials to improve the IP crime tools available to brand owners in Canada, and to train CBSA and other law enforcement officials to identify counterfeit goods and stop them from entering and permeating the Canadian marketplace.

Qualifications

  • News
  • Speaking
  • Industry Involvement
  • In the Media

  • "Contentious trademark proceedings: What brand owners should know about defending and enforcing their rights in the Great White North", (co-speaker: Laura Easton), Smart & Biggar Webinar, April 20, 2023
  • "Managing IP and Compliance Risks in a Digital World: Emerging legal issues related to use of artificial intelligence and data in digital business operations", (co-speakers: Patrick Roszell, Alice Tseng and Neil Padgett), Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) Ontario webinar, September 28, 2022
  • "Trademarks between Friends: Key differences in Canadian and U.S. Trademarks practice" (with Christian Bolduc), Smart & Biggar Webinar, May 19, 2022 
  • "Canadian and U.S. Trademark Prosecution: Northern (high)lights and key differences that brand owners and counsel should know" (with Kwan T. Loh), Smart & Biggar Webinar, July 8, 2021
  • Panelist, "Meeting Distinctiveness Requirements for International Trademarks", Strafford Webinar, May 25, 2021
  • Panelist, "Recreational Cannabis: Key intellectual property and advertising issues”, webinar, Ontario Bar Association, May 19, 2021
  • Speaker, "The Perils of U.S. Centricity in Trademark Practice: What U.S. Companies and Their Attorneys Assume about Foreign TM Laws at Their Own Risk”, virtual conference, American Bar Association – Intellectual Property Law (ABA-IPL) Section conference, April 12, 2021
  • Speaker, "IP Law: New industry and regulatory developments”, webinar, Canadian Lawyer, March 10, 2021
  • Panelist, "Top 10 things to make your day more productive in an age of constant disruption and remote work", Canadian Lawyer Young Lawyers Summit, Virtual conference, November 24, 2020
  • "Managing your organization's IP risk and opportunity" (with Patrick Roszell), Association for Corporate Counsel-Ontario and Smart and Biggar webinar, November 19, 2020
  • Panelist, “Global Anticounterfeiting Enforcement: Hot Topics in a New Era,” Aftermarket IP Forum, Virtual conference, November 19, 2020
  • Panelist, “The Strain I Own: Plant Breeders Rights and Patents” (co-panelist: Lei Liu), GrowUp Conference and Expo, Niagra Falls, Ontario, September 13, 2019
  • Presenter, “Trademark Considerations for ‘Ganjapreneurs’”, Technology and Intellectual Property (TIP) Annual Conference, University of Toronto Law School, Toronto, Ontario, March 4, 2019
  • Panelist, “Resources: Industry, Agencies & Organizations”, 23rd Annual Fraud and Anti-Counterfeiting Conference, Toronto, Ontario, October 5, 2018
  • Keynote speaker, “Deconstructing NAFTA 2.0”, Canadian Anti-Counterfeiting Network (CACN) Annual General Meeting, Toronto, Ontario, October 3, 2018
  • Presenter, “How to Protect Your Designs: Legal Protection in the Fields of Fashion, Graphic & Interior Design”, Ryerson Communication and Design Conference, Toronto, Ontario, March 3, 2017

Memberships

  • Member, International Trademark Association (INTA); member of the Unreal Campaign Committee (2022-2025); member of the Anti-Counterfeiting Committee (2016-2021)
  • Member, Law Society of Ontario
  • Member, Canadian Bar Association

Interviews

Publications