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CANADIANLAWYERMAG.COM/INHOUSE JULY/AUGUST 2019
L a w D e p a r t m e n t M a n a g e m e n t
No matter how skilled or experienced an IP lawyer is, protecting a company's
IP portfolio is not a job that can be done independently. Instead, it's an ongoing
task that requires co-operation and buy-in from the entire organization, and it's
up to the in-house counsel to ensure that occurs.
That's one of the common pieces of advice given by four separate in-house
counsels with responsibility for IP at four very different companies.
When asked to share what they consider to be some of the best practices for
managing an IP portfolio, Panagiota Dafniotis, assistant general counsel and
head of the intellectual property group at the RBC law group at Royal Bank
of Canada in Montreal, Joanne Nardi, director of global intellectual property
at Molson Coors Brewing Company in Toronto, Catherine Eckenswiller, legal
counsel at VBI Vaccinations Inc. in Ottawa, and Todd D. Bailey, senior counsel
of intellectual property in the legal services division of aircraft engine manufac
-
turer Pratt & Whitney Canada Corp., all stress the importance of communica-
tion and education when it comes to making sure company employees under-
stand IP is a valuable asset.
"The idea that documenting your IP strategy and coming up with a process
on how you make decisions is in itself important," says Bailey, who is based in
Longueuil, Que.
BY CAROLYN GRUSKE
Managing IP portfolio
takes co-operation
Companies talking about digital transformation
PHOTO:
SHUTTERSTOCK
