Canada’s Intellectual Property Firm

Canada's intellectual property firm

Smart & Biggar is widely recognized as Canada’s leading firm for intellectual property, and with over 180 lawyers, patent agents and trademark agents in five offices, we are also the largest firm focused purely on IP and related specialty areas.

Since 1890, we have helped our clients find value in their intellectual property rights. We remain devoted to protecting our clients' intellectual property and technology assets and advising clients on how to uncover and maximize available opportunities.

We have a storied history and tradition of providing the highest quality of IP advisory services and have filed more patent and trademark applications than any firm in Canada.  Our decades of experience in intellectual property, combined with our deep knowledge and expertise across a wide range of technologies and industries, allow us to provide clients with clarity on opportunities and solutions to leverage and maximize IP.

Trusted by the world’s leading companies and innovators

At Smart & Biggar, we have the honour of working with many of Canada’s and the world’s most important innovators and brand owners. We continuously invest in our client relationships, and many of our clients have entrusted us with protecting, enforcing and commercializing their IP rights for over a half-century.

We are proud to have supported our clients on the road to market leadership — from start-up companies in emerging growth sectors to multinational corporations, as well as innovators at universities and other research institutions – advising them on their most critical and complex IP matters.

Whether we are advising an innovative manufacturer on patent strategy or infringement issues, providing counsel on brand protection and enforcement, or handling the IP aspects of a corporate transaction, we always ensure that our clients receive the full benefit of our unrivaled IP experience and expertise.

We are committed to providing expert counsel and guidance to safeguard our clients’ competitive position and help them build and enforce strategic intellectual property and technology rights that will create more value for their business.

No other firm can claim a stronger track record of victories in intellectual property litigation for its clients than Smart & Biggar. We pride ourselves on providing clients with the rare combination of successful trial experience, deep subject matter expertise and sophisticated and practical skills and analysis.

Our structure

Membership of the IPH Limited group

Smart & Biggar operates as part of the IPH Limited group. IPH Limited is a public company that is the holding company for an international network of intellectual property professional services and adjacent businesses which operate under different brands in a range of jurisdictions. For more information on the IPH Limited group and its member companies please see the IPH website.

Smart & Biggar ownership and structure

Smart & Biggar is the business name for three separate partnerships which provide specialised intellectual property services under the Smart & Biggar brand in a collaborative manner, namely:

  • Smart & Biggar LP, a limited partnership formed under the laws of the Province of Quebec, which carries on the business of a patent and trademark agency and provides all related and other services that are not legal services provided by either Smart & Biggar LLP or Smart & Biggar Alberta LLP.
  • Smart & Biggar LLP, a limited liability partnership formed under the laws of the Province of Quebec, which carries on the business of a law firm and solely provides legal services in Canada that do not relate to the laws of the Province of Alberta;
  • Smart & Biggar Alberta LLP, a limited liability partnership wholly owned by individual lawyers and formed under the laws of the Province of Alberta which carries on the business of a law firm and solely provides legal services in Canada in relation to the laws of the Province of Alberta; and

Smart & Biggar LLP is solely responsible for the provision of all services reserved to the legal profession pursuant to the rules applicable to the practice of law anywhere in Canada other than the Province of Alberta. Smart & Biggar LLP will at all times provide such legal services, and all fees will be invoiced by Smart & Biggar LLP.

Smart & Biggar Alberta LLP is solely responsible for the provision of all services reserved to the legal profession pursuant to the rules applicable to the practice of law in the Province of Alberta. Smart & Biggar Alberta LLP will at all times provide such legal services, and all fees will be invoiced by Smart & Biggar Alberta LLP.

Smart & Biggar LP provides all other IP services, all fees for such services will be invoiced by Smart & Biggar LP.

Ownership group

Smart & Biggar operates as part of the IPH Limited group. Information on all legal entities forming part of the IPH Limited group is available here.

Each of the IPH group professional services businesses of Smart & Biggar, ROBIC, AJ Park, Griffith Hack, Pizzeys and Spruson & Ferguson operate independently from one another in the provision to clients of professional services.*The Applied Marks business operates independently from each of the IPH group professional services businesses but may refer clients to those businesses for the provision of certain services.

*A group business may in some cases engage or be engaged by another group business as a foreign agent or lawyer.

For more information on the key principles to which each IPH Limited group business adheres with respect to independence, appropriate disclosure of group relationships and the management of actual or potential conflicts of interest, see our Group Relationships Statement.

Honoured by Our Peers

  • Globe and Mail

    Top Canadian Law Firm

    2022-2025
    Report on Business: Canada's Best Law Firms
  • IAM & WTR

    Canadian Patent Prosecution Firm of the Year

    2024
    Global IP Awards
  • Legal Media Group

    Canadian Patent Strategy Firm of the Year

    2013, 2014, 2018, 2021, 2023 & 2024
    LMG Life Sciences Awards
  • MIP

    Tier One Firm for Copyright Law

    2020-2024
    IP Stars: Copyright & related rights
  • Lexpert

    IP Boutique Firm of the Year

    2020-2024
    Canadian Law Awards
  • Euromoney LMG

    Work-Life Balance North America Firm of the Year

    2023-2024
    Women in Business Law Americas Awards
  • Euromoney LMG

    Career Development North America Firm of the Year

    2022-2024
    Women in Business Law Americas Awards
  • Euromoney LMG

    Canada Firm of the Year

    2021-2024
    Women in Business Law Americas Awards
  • IAM

    Highly Recommended Firm for Patent Transactions

    2023-2024
    IAM Patent 1000 - The World’s Leading Patent Professionals
  • IAM

    Gold Band Firm for Patent Prosecution & Litigation

    2013-2024
    IAM Patent 1000 - The World’s Leading Patent Professionals