- Bio
- Awards & Recognition
- Professional Involvement
- Representative Matters
- Selected Speaking Engagements
- Selected Publications
- Insights
- Education
Amy is a commercially-minded advocate who takes a strategic and practical approach to helping clients achieve their ultimate business goals. She is known as a passionate, innovative and detail-oriented lawyer, esteemed by clients for her interpersonal and strong litigation skills.
Amy is a member of the firm’s Intellectual Property and Litigation & Dispute Resolution Groups. She represents a wide variety of clients, including startup and scaling companies, multinational organizations and Fortune 500 companies, across sectors such as life sciences, technology, media and sports, manufacturing, energy and consumer packaged goods.
Leveraging her degree in biochemistry and intellectual property expertise, Amy has a thorough understanding of how the innovative and generic sides of the pharmaceutical industry operate and their respective regulatory constraints. She has represented various life sciences clients, including pharmaceutical and medical device companies, in patent infringement and impeachment actions, as well as proceedings under the Patented Medicines (Notice of Compliance) Regulations (PM(NOC) Regulations) and resulting damages therefrom. Amy regularly advises such clients on regulatory matters, advertising and licensing issues and has supported various corporate transactions of IP assets.
Amy guides clients on branding and copyright issues, trademark portfolio management and strategy, and has represented clients in trademark oppositions, trademark and copyright infringement and passing-off proceedings, as well as proceedings pertaining to domain names and social media-related disputes.
Amy is a strong litigator with significant experience representing clients on a broad range of intellectual property matters. Her practice includes all areas of intellectual property law, with a particular emphasis on complex interjurisdictional IP litigation. She has appeared before the Federal Court, the Federal Court of Appeal, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice and specialized tribunals such as the Trademarks Opposition Board. Amy frequently presents and contributes to publications in the intellectual property field.
Awards & Recognition
- Recognized in The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory as a leading lawyer in the areas of Intellectual Property, Life Sciences and Health
- Recognized in The Best Lawyers in Canada in Intellectual Property Law and Biotechnology & Life Sciences Practice
- Recognized by Benchmark Litigation Canada as a Future Star, 2023
- Recognized in IP Stars (from Managing IP) as a Patent Star - Canada
- Recognized in the World Trademark Review 1000: The World's Leading Trademark Professionals, 2023
- Recognized in the Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory, 2020: Leading Lawyer to Watch in the field of Intellectual Property
- Recognized in IAM Patent 1000, 2019 – 2022 for Litigation
- Recognized in World Trademark Review 1000: The World’s Leading Trademark Professionals as a leading individual in enforcement
- LMG Award, 2016: Patent Contentious Case of the Year
Professional Involvement
Memberships:
- Canadian Bar Association
- Ontario Bar Association
- The Advocates’ Society
- Intellectual Property Institute of Canada
Representative Matters
- Represented Canadian Tire Corporation in defence of patent infringement action
- Represented Wyeth LLC in defence of patent impeachment action maintaining the validity of a key patent (2021 FC 317)
- Represented Gilead Sciences Inc. and Gilead Sciences Canada, Inc. in successful patent infringement and impeachment action (2015 FC 1156, affirmed 2017 FCA 161, opponent’s leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada dismissed, 2018 CanLII 35644)
- Represented Royal Bank of Canada in trademark infringement and passing-off litigation
- Represented various scaling technology and CPG companies in trademark infringement and passing-off litigation
- Provided copyright and branding advice and dispute resolution strategy development for several emerging and scaling businesses
- Acted as Counsel on eight actions (representing variously Pfizer, Eli Lilly, GlaxoSmithKline) defending against claims for damages brought under section 8 of the Patented Medicines (Notice of Compliance) Regulations
Selected Speaking Engagements
- Panellist, "Patentable Subject Matter: Where Are the Dividing Lines for Methods of Medical Treatment, Computer Implemented Inventions and AI-Developed Inventions?" U of T's 12th Annual Patent Colloquium, November 10, 2023.
- Moderator, "What Do You Mean I Don’t Own My IP?: Addressing Chain of Title and Ownership Issues," IPIC Webinar, September 14, 2022.
- Panellist, "Hot Topics in Patent Law," Canadian Bar Association IP Day, May 2019.
- "Oppositions and s. 45 Proceedings," NRFC Progamme on Understanding Canada's Modernized Trademark Regime, April 2019.
- Panellist, "Expert Evidence – Cutting to the Case,” University of Toronto Patent Colloquium, November 2018.
Selected Publications
Quoted in "Ownership of Creative Work Generated by Artificial Intelligence Prompts Debate," Lexpert, June 26, 2023.
Co-Author, "Federal Court Expunges Licensee’s Trademark Registrations for Bad Faith," Aird & Berlis LLP The Spotlight, January 17, 2023.
Co-Author, "Pizza Problems: Federal Court Expunges Trademark Registration for Lack of Control Over Licensed Use," Aird & Berlis LLP The Spotlight, June 10, 2022.
Author, "Spring Cleaning: Getting Your IP House in Order," Canadian Plastics, April 14, 2022.
Co-Author, "Ghost in the Well: Court Expunges Registration of a Competitor’s Trademark," Aird & Berlis LLP The Spotlight, April 13, 2022.
Author, "Spring Cleaning: Getting your IP House in Order," Aird & Berlis LLP The Spotlight, March 30, 2022.
Co-Author, "Whose Liability Is It Anyway? The Court Clarifies the Burden in Summary Trials and Infers Inducement," Aird & Berlis LLP The Spotlight, January 31, 2022.
Co-Author, "The Markman and the Grandfather: Federal Court Determines Claim Construction by Partial Summary Judgment and Interprets the Prior Use Defence," Aird & Berlis LLP The Spotlight, January 24, 2022.
Insights
Education
- JD, University of Toronto, 2007
- B.Sc. (Hons.), Biochemistry, McMaster University, 2003