In a market in which free competition reigns, protection and strategic management of companies’ and institutions’ intellectual assets are critical and must be meticulously attended to, particularly when third parties have access to them.
Cain Lamarre Casgrain Wells has a team available specializing in intellectual property and information technology. To deal with all your needs, these same legal practitioners also have experience in business law, such as company law, corporate and commercial law, corporate finance, competition law, international law, and litigation. Our team includes several trademark agents as well who are authorized to act in Canada and the United States. They can also act in other countries through the SCG Legal* and TAGLaw legal networks we are part of.
Our intellectual property and information technology experts benefit a varied clientele that includes small, medium, and large companies in every economic sector, including many high-tech firms and public and parapublic institutions in the fields of education and health, as well as private individuals.
Our team supports and advises these companies on innovation and asset development, including intellectual property rights, and works closely with them on major investments in their fields.
Our services address every aspect of intellectual property and IT law, including the following:
- Trade mark
- Copyright
- Industrial design
- Patents and trade secrets
- Licensing contracts, confidentiality agreements, and distribution agreements
- Unfair competition and counterfeiting
- Litigation and conflict resolution involving intellectual property and information technology
More specifically, we can address our clients’ concerns regarding
- Intellectual property protection as recognized by law including patents, copyright, industrial design, trademark, plant varieties, integrated circuit topography, and domain names
- Intellectual property protection under common law including know-how, trade secrets, confidential information, and trade secrets
- Representation in intellectual property rights litigation
- Intellectual property rights registration, as in the deposit and legal defense of copyright, industrial designs, and trademarks, both in Canada and elsewhere in the world, including trademark opposition and expungement proceedings
- Intellectual property protection in the negotiation and drafting of employment agreements and non-disclosure agreements covering know-how, trade secrets, and confidential information
- Negotiation and drafting of domestic and international intellectual property and technology transfer agreements resulting from acquisitions, licensing, assignments, joint ventures, distribution, franchising, strategic alliances, or contracting out, involving a wide variety of technologies
- Intellectual property rights and technology acquisition through share purchases, purchases of assets or interest in assets, or mergers
- Establishment and application of due diligence processes for acquisition of tangible and intangible assets including intellectual property
- Drafting of website use and identity certification management contracts and establishment of certification policies and computer, security, and software development agreements
- Liquidation and acceptance as security of intellectual property and technology by financial institutions for purposes of debt and equity financing for technology companies’ research and development projects
- Development of business, commercialization, and intellectual property rights management strategies taking into account such aspects as advertising, labeling, and applicable regulatory environment
Note also that we have agreements in place with Canadian and American patent agents who work with our team in all fields, notably computers, medical biotechnology, mechanics, electricity, electronics, and chemistry. These dependable, experienced professionals practice in Montreal for Canadian patents and Virginia for the American ones.
We can also put you in touch with marketing and commercialization partners and collaborators with whom we have worked closely for many years. We also represent venture capital companies in finance such as the Business Development Bank of Canada, Investissement Québec, and Desjardins Venture Capital, who provide invaluable services to our clients.
* Member law firms practice independently and not in a relationship for the joint practice of law.
