Gunars Gaikis recognized among the world’s “Best of the Best” lawyers by Expert Guides

Gunars Gaikis

Smart & Biggar is proud to announce that firm partner, Gunars Gaikis, is again recognized as one of the leading patent attorneys in the world from Expert Guides: Best of the Best, a biennial guide naming the world’s leading lawyers chosen by their peers. Gunars had received this prominent global accolade in 2014 and 2016.

Recognized as a premier pharmaceutical patent litigator, Gunars has shaped Canadian law through his trial and appellate work in pharmaceutical litigation over the past 20 years.

Gunars has been described by independent IP lawyers’ reviewers as a “seasoned gladiator”. He has been praised as “a skilled fighter and lifecycle strategist for original drugs companies” and “one of the best patent litigators since the industry began”.

More recently, Gunars has been notably acclaimed for his win on behalf of AstraZeneca, in AstraZeneca Canada v Apotex (NEXIUM), which represented a significant victory for innovators seeking protection in Canada, with the Supreme Court of Canada wholly rejecting the promise doctrine and clarifying the requirement for patent utility.

In an article featured in Expert Guides: Best of the Best, Gunars highlighted the key outcomes of the case noting that:

The Supreme Court of Canada's total rejection of the promise doctrine is clear: "the Promise Doctrine is not the correct method of determining whether a patent has sufficient utility"; it is "incongruent with both the words and the scheme of the Patent Act"; "it is not good law"; and, is "unsound".

The precedent-setting victory also received recognition earlier this year as a “Milestone Case of the Year” and earned Gunars a top distinction as “Canada’s Outstanding IP Practitioner of the Year”, at the Managing Intellectual Property North American Awards Ceremony.

Expert Guides: Best of the Best compiles the top practitioners in 15 different areas of law. Their methodology involves asking over 4000 senior practitioners and in-house counsel, in more than 70 jurisdictions, to nominate their industry’s top achievers based on their work and reputation.

See more of Gunars Gaikis’ accolades here.

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Smart & Biggar is Canada's largest firm practicing exclusively in intellectual property and technology law, with offices in Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and Calgary. We are leaders in intellectual property and technology law and have been serving clients for over a century. For more information, please visit smart-biggar.ca