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say it's wrong to view Canada with pre- conceived notions of how to approach the actions here. "The challenge was getting the right balance because all the co-defendants and our parent company all have capable, competent counsel. Everybody has a wealth of knowledge and the trick is to get the right balance between getting the benefit of the expe- rience without becoming a prisoner to the experience and tailoring to the situ- ation at hand," says Kiser. The international players include Philip Morris International, Japan Tobacco International, and British American Tobacco — Imperial's par- ent company. Because the internation- al companies have been engaged in litigation around the world for many years, they have established views of approaching tobacco litigation. In some respects, Kiser says the issues are simi- lar but in other respects they are very different. For example, the history of tobacco in Canada is not the same and the way the courts approach litigation is different. There are also provincial differences. Glendinning works almost daily with the international co-ordinating committee taking conference calls and planning strategy. She says her team of 25 is ready to go to battle. "This is the first time we get an opportunity to tell our Canadian defence story," she says. "So many of these cases are mod- elled after what people have heard or read about in the United States. But we are not the U.S. tobacco industry — we obviously have similarities, and the companies do business all over the world, but you can't say, 'There you go; they're all the same,' because they're not. We have a uniquely Canadian situ- ation. We have our own laws and pro- cesses so we need to educate people on the differences and make them real- ize the strategies employed in other jurisdictions may not exactly fit here as they have in other places. They can't just bring a cookie-cutter approach and say it should apply here." When it comes to understanding the history of tobacco use in Canada, Glendinning says people have to be reminded that it involved societal and governmental decisions and not just industry decisions. "There were deci- sions weighed in on and thought was given by groups of people and teams of scientists and politicians who set policy back then," she says. She points to a similar situation today with the current on-again, off- again debate about the potential dan- gers of cellphone use. "Is the govern- ment going to come out and ban cell- phones right now? I don't think so. You're going to see this replayed down the road where society deals with an issue and it comes out one way or another over time." THE COMPLEX MINEFIELD OF IP AND TECHNOLOGY LAW REQUIRES EXPERT NAVIGATION. IP SMART & BIGGAR'S internationally recognized professionals have the technical and legal experience to help you navigate the complex, high-stakes world of IP & technology law. With offices across the country, we are able to work with you to provide and leverage the right skills, knowledge and resources to create unparalleled IP solutions tailored to your unique needs. smart-biggar.ca | Ottawa | Toronto | Montreal | Vancouver 22 • DECEMBER 2011/JANUARY 2012 INHOUSE UNPARALLELED