Steven Garland

Steven Garland is managing partner at Smart & Biggar and chair of the firm’s executive committee. He has over 25 years’ trial and appellate experience in all types of IP litigation, including issues relating to patent, trademark, copyright, industrial designs, trade secrets and competition law. He has appeared as counsel before the Supreme Court of Canada, the Federal Court and Federal Court of Appeal, appellate and trial courts for the provinces of Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta and Nova Scotia, the Patent Appeal Board and the Trademarks Opposition Board. He has also been retained as a mediator in IP disputes.

Mr Garland acts on behalf of innovator pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical companies for patent-related matters, including patent infringement actions and proceedings under the Patented Medicines (Notice of Compliance) Regulations.

In numerous surveys, clients and colleagues have noted him as “an exceptional litigator” and “among the best”.  His victory for the Dow Chemical Company netted the largest reported award in a Canadian patent infringement case on infringing revenues of approximately C$1 billion. In 2018 he was named Lawyer of the Year by Best Lawyers in Canada (IP law) and Canada’s 2013 Trademark Litigator of the Year by Benchmark Canada.

Mr Garland is a former president of the International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property (Canadian Group) and a former president of the Intellectual Property Institute of Canada. He is also an adjunct professor at the University of Ottawa Law School, where he teaches patent law. He is a regular writer and lecturer on IP matters, both in Canada and internationally. He is also a member of the editorial board of Intellectual Property Magazine. Before becoming a lawyer, he was a reservoir engineer in the Canadian oil and gas industry.