WHAT WE DO

Life sciences intellectual property litigation is a core strength at Gowlings, where our leading IP litigators have been shaping IP law in the life sciences industry for decades. Gowlings IP litigation professionals appear in more patent actions in the Federal Court of Canada than any other firm and have more appearances in the Federal Court for innovators than any other law firm in regards to Patented Medicines (Notice of Compliance) proceedings.

Our clients include leading pharmaceutical companies such as Johnson & Johnson, Bristol-Myers Squibb, GlaxoSmithKline, Eli Lilly, Novartis, Hoffmann-La Roche and Sanofi-Aventis. Appearances in seminal cases protecting innovator’s rights include:

• For interveners Rx&D and Eli Lilly Canada in the Federal Court of Appeal, which dismissed Apotex Inc.’s and the Canadian Generic Pharmaceutical Association‘s unsuccessful challenge to the validity of data protection regulations (Dec. 2010).
• For Eli Lilly & Company in the Federal Court of Appeal in the ZYPREXA® litigation against Novopharm, which reversed the trial division in part and affirmed that improper selection is not a ground of invalidity. (Federal Court of Canada decision)
• For Sanofi-Synthelabo Canada Inc. in the Supreme Court of Canada in the PLAVIX® litigation against Apotex, which confirmed selection patents are available in Canada and are not to be held to a different standard than other patents. This case won the Managing Intellectual Property (MIP) Patent Case of the Year for 2008.
• For intervener BIOTECanada in the Supreme Court of Canada in Monsanto Canada Inc. v. Schmeiser, which confirmed protection for claims to genetically engineered plant cells.

LEADERS IN OUR FIELD

Our life sciences practitioners are ranked Tier 1 "top notch" for Canada in a study of the world's leading life sciences patent litigation law firms by Intellectual Asset Management. The Firm was named Patent Prosecution Firm of the Year and Patent Contentious Firm of the Year by Managing Intellectual Property. MIP has also ranked Gowlings as a leader in all aspects of trade-mark, copyright and patent law in Canada for 15 consecutive years and in the Chambers Global Guide, 2011, Gowlings is Band 1 IP in Canada and Russia with nine professionals ranked as IP leaders.

INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS

We understand global IP litigation and regulatory strategies, the law and the science.  With a team that includes litigation counsel with PhDs, MScs and BScs, in life sciences disciplines, we have extensive experience developing winning solutions in Canada that work with global strategies and resources.  We have a long track record of creating new IP law.  While focusing on solutions that make business sense, Gowlings’ litigators are prepared to go to court, to trial and to the appellate levels and consistently do so.

Because we see the big picture, we develop litigation strategies that meet your business goals. Our lawyers are members of the Firm’s Life Sciences Group of professionals that provides a full range of business, advocacy and other IP services from offices across Canada and in Russia.  We can help at every stage of a product life cycle to position our clients for success. We help clients to obtain enforceable patent claims and secure and maintain trade-mark protection, navigate complex regulatory regimes and assist with pricing and competition issues, including representation before the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board (PMPRB) and resist product liability claims. For more information, visit our Life Sciences Industry Group and IP litigation pages.