Tony Sabeta, B.Eng.
*Practising as a professional corporation
- Bio
- Awards & Recognition
- Professional Involvement
- Representative Matters
- Selected Speaking Engagements
- Selected Publications
- Insights
- Education
Tony Sabeta is a Partner of Aird & McBurney LP, Patent & Trademark Agents, sister firm to Aird & Berlis LLP, and is a registered Patent Agent in Canada and the United States. He is also a Director of Aird & Berlis’ Startups Group.
Tony represents clients in a variety of high-technology industries, and has prepared, prosecuted, and secured patents in the computer and electrical areas such as software, hardware, video and audio encoding, network data storage, network security and monitoring, wireless networking devices, mobile telecommunications, RFID systems, depth sensing technologies, robotics, aerospace systems and components, sensor/actuator systems, distributed data processing, neural networks, machine learning, financial services, virtual/augmented reality, blockchain technologies, and medical devices.
He has hands-on experience in the areas of wireless communications systems, digital electronics, programming, including the development of traffic management solutions for mobile data networks. Tony has held positions at some of Canada’s prominent law firms and IP boutique firms. He also worked in the legal department of a global telecommunications company, where he developed and managed an extensive patent portfolio covering wireless networks, IP switching platforms, unified communications, mobility and security applications.
Tony uses his expertise to help early-stage companies, small and medium-sized enterprises and universities protect their innovations, as well as develop, maintain and exploit their patent portfolios. He provides clear and concise guidance for navigating the complex intellectual property landscape. When working with clients, his primary focus is on developing and implementing intellectual property strategies with an eye towards nurturing the client’s growth and long-term success, including increasing their valuation. He is an active member of the firm’s startup group which works with early-stage companies to educate, and advise them on intellectual property matters, and supports the Canadian startup community through free educational resources, seminars, speaking engagements, and sponsorships.
He also advises clients on other intellectual property matters, including patent portfolio acquisition and management, patent portfolio licenses, joint development agreements, freedom-to-operate opinions, patentability opinions, infringement opinions, validity opinions, including litigation support. In addition, Tony conducts IP due diligence for companies involved in early/late stage financing rounds, mergers, acquisitions, and public offerings, as well as for VC investors involved in such transactions.
Tony is a member of the firm’s Diversity & Inclusion Committee.
Awards & Recognition
- Registered Patent Agent (Canada) (2004)
- Registered Patent Agent (United States) (2005)
Professional Involvement
Professional Activities
- Faculty member of the Intellectual Property Institute of Canada's (IPIC) Patent Agent Training Course 2019 - 2022
- Mentor – Founder Institute (Toronto) 2020
Memberships
- The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
- Intellectual Property Institute of Canada (IPIC)
- Canadian Association of Black Patent Agents (CABPA)
- The Association of Intellectual Property Firms (AIPF)
- American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA)
- Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM)
- Toronto Intellectual Property Group (TIPG)
- National Bar Association (IP Section) (NBA)
Representative Matters
Represented SensOR Medical Laboratories Ltd., winner of the Canadian national James Dyson Award for ForceFilm, a thin add-on for minimally invasive surgical instruments that provides surgeons with a digital sense of touch to help improve surgical safety, in all their patent matters.
Selected Speaking Engagements
Presenter, "Patent Agent Training Course - Drafting & Prosecution Module," Intellectual Property Institute of Canada, May 6-July 12, 2024.
Presenter, "International Intellectual Property Course," Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law, Arizona State University, March 11, 2024.
Moderator, "Navigating the Headwinds in the IP Field," IPO's Black IP Professional Resource Group, February 21, 2024.
Presenter, "Patent Agent Training Course - Drafting & Prosecution Module," Intellectual Property Institute of Canada, May 1-July 10, 2023.
Speaker, "International Intellectual Property Law," Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law, Arizona State University, February 27, 2023.
Moderator, "Successes and Challenges Faced by Leaders in the Black IP Community," IPO's Black IP Professionals Resource Group, February 16, 2023.
Speaker, "International Intellectual Property Law," Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law, Arizona State University, February 21, 2022.
Speaker, “Patentability of Software and Computer Implemented Inventions,” United States Patent & Trademark Office Practice Committee of the IPO, April 14, 2021.
Speaker, "International Intellectual Property Law," Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law, Arizona State University, March 1, 2021.
Speaker, "What Startups Need to Know About Intellectual Property," Founder Institute, Toronto, January 6, 2021.
Speaker, "Focus on North America: Patent and Trademark Protection in Canada, the US and Mexico," American Intellectual Property Law Association's Continuing Legal Education Webinar, April 15, 2020.
Moderator, “Decoding Software Patents Post-Alice,” Can-Tech Spring Forum, Canadian Technology Law Association, June 17, 2019.
Speaker, “What's in Your IP Toolkit, Startups?,” LaunchYU Accelerator, York University, May 30, 2019.
Speaker, “Worldwide Filing Strategies for U.S. Patent Applicants,” The University of Akron – School of Law: 21st Annual Symposium on Intellectual Property Law and Policy, March 4, 2019.
Speaker, “What Startups & Scaleups Need To Know About Patents,” Startuptive, August 14, 2018.
Speaker, “Unhashing Your Blockchain IP Strategy,” FFCON18: VELOCITY (2018 Fintech and Funding Conference), March 5, 2018.
Judge, Entrepreneurship Competition, The National Business and Technology Conference, March 10-11, 2017.
Speaker, “Strategies to Protect Your Revenue by Securing Intellectual Property (IP) Rights Before Launching,” Canadian Crowdfinance Summit 2017, March 1, 2017.
Speaker, “Do Startups Need Patents?” Extreme Venture Partners/Extreme Accelerator, Toronto, January 25, 2017.
Speaker, “Software Patents: Don’t Hate the Player, Hate the Game,” BNOTIONS, Toronto, November 10, 2015.
Selected Publications
"What Startups Need to Know About IP Patents," NCFA Fintech & Blockchain Confidential (Vol 1. Issue 2), July 2019.
“Get Smart,” Intellectual Property Magazine, February 26, 2019.
"The Ultimate Blockchain Patent Teardown," Association of Intellectual Property Firms (AIPF) IP LAW BUGLE, Issue 22, August 2018.
Insights
Education
- B.Eng. (Electrical), McGill University, 1993