The Patent 1000 focuses exclusively on patent practice and has firmly established itself as the definitive 'go-to' resource for those seeking world-class legal patent expertise.
Bronze - Individuals: litigation
Toronto-headquartered Bereskin & Parr enjoys a significant presence in Canada, with 58 practitioners on hand to deliver robust patent prosecution services and simultaneously provide in-depth and insightful strategic advice. It fiercely represents parties in disputes too, while always looking for ways to arrive at commercially sensible and win-win solutions. The firm also takes pride in its ability to navigate new and cutting-edge industries, where, for example, it launched a psychedelics division in 2021 to guide companies through an ever-evolving regulatory framework, and also put together a quantum technology group to support companies creating quantum computers. These developments are the result of the successful and rapidly rising cannabis and artificial intelligence (AI) industries, the latter of which has also spurred the hiring of former ROBIC lawyer Louis-Pierre Gravelle to the Montréal office. Gravelle is renowned for his extensive AI experience, having managed the portfolios for leading high-tech clients, as well as universities and research institutions. Also working on all things high-tech is Bhupinder Randhawa, who leads the electrical and computer technology group, and co-leads the AI group. He helps patrons make the most of their technology by thoroughly analysing their competitors’ market positions and providing shrewd and commercially savvy advice. In the life sciences Carmela De Luca and Melanie Szweras have been drafting and filing applications for University Health Network for a variety of innovations, including medical technology and CRISPR-based screening platforms, alongside managing its worldwide patent portfolio. Fellow life sciences ace Micheline Gravelle and chemistry guru Patricia Folkins are relied upon by biopharmaceutical company CSL Behring and the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, respectively, for their commercially attuned prosecution services. Rounding off the prosecution line-up are chemical engineer Philip Mendes da Costa, mechanical engineer Jason Hynes and material science maven Robert Storey, all of whom bring vast insight and experience to their technically sound and business-savvy counsel. In the clean tech space, Scott Pundsack combines his civil engineering background and law degree to deliver wonderfully holistic guidance. On the contentious side, the outfit’s crack litigators have had their hands full with complex mandates. Andrew McIntosh, the litigation division leader, teamed up with Robert MacFarlane and Adam Bobker to defend Nova Chemicals in a claim for disgorgement of its profits stemming from a patent infringement suit involving polyethylene resins. The trio were successful in reducing the amount owed, and the matter is currently being appealed. Alongside lawyer and chemical engineer Joshua Spicer, McIntosh and MacFarlane joined forces again to represent Packers Plus Energy Services in a patent infringement case for damages over apparatus and methods of fracking oil and gas wells. On behalf of two GlaxoSmithKline-affiliated companies, Donald Cameron and Scott MacKendrick are battling it out against Sandoz for patent infringement on an HIV drug. It is a PM(NOC) matter aimed at preventing Sandoz from producing a generic version of the drug. Finally, the group also has a solid transactions practice that harbours the silky-smooth negotiation talents of Noel Courage and Victor Krichker. Courage provided strategic counsel to University Health Network that was tailored to the company’s commercial objectives, while Krichker supported LGC Group in obtaining a majority stake in Toronto Research Chemicals.