Smart & Biggar, “the leading IP boutique in the trademarks space,” ranks as Gold Tier for Canadian trademarks in WTR 1000

­­­­Smart & Biggar comes out on top with a ‘gold tier’ ranking for Canadian trademarks in the 2020 World Trademark Review 1000 (WTR 1000) – The World’s Leading Trademark Professionals.

Smart & Biggar’s trademark practice is acclaimed by the guide as “in full stride” and “laying down a marker as the leading IP boutique in the trademark space.” In addition, the firm is also recognized for anti-counterfeiting.

In total, an impressive eleven Smart & Biggar practitioners are recognized across transactions, enforcement and litigation, anti-counterfeiting, and prosecution and strategy:

Mark Biernacki (Enforcement and Litigation): Viewed as being “at home in headline-making contentious matters”, with “a stellar reputation” and is “sound counsel.”

Christian Bolduc (Transactions and Prosecution and Strategy): Known for being one of the firm’s “strongest trademark practitioners.”

Mark Evans (Enforcement and Litigation, Prosecution and Strategy and Anti-counterfeiting): Noted as having an “excellent reputation” and being “at the top of his game.” Commentators describe Mark as
“Aggressive but effective, he is a solid litigator, extremely smart, experienced and incredibly accomplished.”

Steven Garland (Enforcement and Litigation): Lauded as “a fine litigator, particularly for the bigger case.” Along with Mark Evans, Steven is known as “pushing the law to new places to benefit their clients.”

Sanjay Goorachurn (Transactions): Praised for being a “committed external counsel” who “thinks of the most innovative solutions while bearing in mind the worst-case scenarios to accurately calculate the risk/reward balance in high-stakes IP transactions.”

François Guay (Enforcement and Litigation):  Revered as a “seasoned litigator in the Canadian IP arena.”

Philip Lapin (Prosecution and Strategy): Praised alongside Christian Bolduc as being “a dream pair” with “knowledge that is vastly respected.”

Kwan Loh (Prosecution and Strategy): Noted for being “very well versed in prosecution and portfolio management” and “thoroughly experienced in his field.”

Keltie Sim Luft (Prosecution and Strategy) Keltie (recently retired) is described as “ a veteran of the trademark scene” and “an assured pair of hands.”

Kohji Suzuki (Prosecution and Strategy): Praised as “a top-quality attorney who does excellent work.” Clients and peers have the utmost confidence in Kohji and strongly endorse him.

Ekaterina Tsimberis (Enforcement and Litigation): Admired as a “great litigator”, she is “very competent and garners a lot of respect in the industry. She has built a niche for herself in the Montreal market and is fast becoming a real go-to person – a rising star.”

WTR 1000 is the first and only guide exclusively dedicated to identifying the world's leading trademark legal services providers. Through an extensive research process conducted by a team of highly qualified, full-time analysts, the publication identifies the leading trademark law firms and individuals in over 71 key jurisdictions globally.

Smart & Biggar is recognised as Canada’s largest and leading firm practising exclusively in intellectual property and technology law, with offices in Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and Calgary. As leaders in intellectual property and technology law Smart & Biggar has been serving clients for over a century.