Norman Cameron joins Smart & Biggar

Focusing on patent portfolios for clients in the chemical and life sciences sectors, Mark not only executes the patent procurement process with an emphasis on quality and timeliness, he excels at setting filing strategies that effectively cover his clients’ immediate, mid-term, and long-term protection needs.

Mark is more than a professional who provides a service – he is genuinely interested in adding value to his clients and is invested in the success of their businesses. With a broad knowledge of IP laws beyond Canada and the United States, Mark offers clients a unique understanding of other jurisdictions that may serve to strengthen their positions in a global market.

Experience in developing and managing domestic and international patent portfolios

Mark’s practice encompasses the development and management of patents for biologics, drug discovery, diagnostics and medical devices, and natural products. He also represents clients in respect of their licenses, acquisitions, research and development agreements and other intellectual property transactions. 

He regularly prepares international patent applications and advises clients throughout subsequent patent prosecution in various jurisdictions, including Canada, Europe, the United States and Australia. He also prosecutes Canadian patent applications for clients in the United States, Europe and other jurisdictions. Mark has successfully represented clients before the Patent Appeal Board.

After obtaining a Ph.D. in developmental genetics from the University of British Columbia, Mark was a research associate at Brookhaven National Laboratory where he worked on the metabolic engineering of designer oils in oilseed crops. He has also worked on the molecular farming of enzyme therapies for rare metabolic disorders. Mark’s work has been published in several peer-reviewed journals including the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (U.S.A.) and patented as US9340776, US9976155 and EP2585599.

Mark is currently co-chair of the AIPLA’s Plant Biotechnology Subcommittee.

Mark Pidkowich is a principal in Smart & Biggar’s Vancouver office. His practice encompasses the development and management of patents for biologics, drug discovery, diagnostics and medical devices, and natural products. He regularly prepares international patent applications and advises clients throughout subsequent patent prosecution in various jurisdictions, including Canada, Europe, the United States and Australia. He also prosecutes Canadian patent applications for clients in the United States, Europe and other jurisdictions and has successfully represented clients before the Patent Appeal Board. Mark is currently co-chair of the American Intellectual Property Law Association’s Plant Biotechnology Subcommittee and an Associate of the Intellectual Property Institute of Canada. University of British Columbia, Ph.D. (Molecular Biology); thesis titled Interactions between members of two homeodomain protein families in Arabidopsis thaliana. Registered Patent and Trademark Agent. Called to the British Columbia Bar, 2009

• “Grow Your Assets - Intellectual Property for the Cannabis Industry” (with Matthew Leaper),  ‘Grow Your Assets’ conference, February 2019
• "Git Along Little Dogies: Riding Herd on the Patent Portfolio" (moderator), Association of University Technology Managers 2015 Western Region Meeting, September 2015 
  

• Co-chair, American Intellectual Property Law Association Plant Biotechnology Subcommittee
• Associate, Intellectual Property Institute of Canada

• "Metabolic Engineering of Seeds Can Achieve Levels of -7 Fatty Acids Comparable with the Highest Levels Found in Natural Plant Sources" (co-authors: H. T. Nguyen, G. Mishra, E. Whittle, S. A. Bevan, A. Owens Merlo, T. A. Walsh and J. Shanklin), Plant Physiology (2010), 154: 1897-1904.
  
• "Modulating seed β-ketoacyl-acyl carrier protein synthase II level converts the composition of a temperate seed oil to that of a palm-like tropical oil" (co-authors: T.H. Nguyen, I. Heilmann, T. Ischebeck and J. Shanklin), Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (U.S.A.) (2007), 104: 4742-4747
  
• "The Arabidopsis BEL1-LIKE HOMEODOMAIN Proteins SAW1 and SAW2 Act redundantly to regulate KNOX expression spatially in leaf margins" (co-authors: R. Kumar, K. Kushalappa, D. Godt, S. Pastorelli, S.R. Hepworth and G.W. Haughn), Plant Cell (2007), 19:2719-2735
• "Synthesis of enzymatically active human iduronidase in Arabidopsis cgl (complex-glycan deficient) seeds" (co-authors: W.L. Downing, J.D. Galpin, S. Clemens,  S.M. Lauzon, A.L. Samuels, L.A. Clarke, and A.R. Kermode) Plant Biotechnology Journal (2006), 4: 169-181
• "Switching desaturase enzyme specificity by alternate subcellular targeting" (co-authors: I. Heilmann, T. Girke and J. Shanklin), Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (U.S.A.) (2004), 101: 10266-10271
• "The Arabidopsis BELL1 and KNOX TALE homeodomain proteins interact through a domain conserved between plants and animals" (co-authors: M. Bellaoui, A. Samach, K. Kushalappa, S.E. Kohalmi,  Z. Modrusan, W.L. Crosby and G.W. Haughn), Plant Cell (2001), 13: 2455-2470
• "The making of a flower: Control of floral meristem identity in Arabidopsis" (co-authors: J.E. Klenz and G.W. Haughn), Trends in Plant Science  (1999), 4: 64-70

• Coordinator of the SBN Venture Ready Program, an entrepreneurship course offered by Simon Fraser University's Beedie School of Business and Student Biotechnology Network, Vancouver, May 9 to June 27, 2011
• "Law and New Media," British Columbia Institute of Technology, April to June 2010