McCarthy Tétrault practitioners pride themselves on being litigators first, IP specialists second. Its rise in this year's patent contentious rankings is attributed to major pieces of litigation the IP group is handling in the pharmaceutical sector. "They're extremely well-respected by the bench," said a client. She added: "The judges almost smile when they see a McCarthy's lawyer in front of them because they know the quality will be intellectually and legally challenging."
Andrew Reddon and Steven Mason successfully represented Abbott Laboratories in Federal Court and the Federal Court of Appeal in blocking an attempt by Sandoz to market a generic version of its drug Biaxin. In another matter before Federal Court, Reddon defended Merck in a three-month patent infringement trial against Apotex over the drug Lovastatin. The case was especially notable for the length of the dispute (13 years) and the use of DNA as evidence of infringement.
Clients recommended partner Alfred Macchione for his advisory work in commercial and business matters: "Alfred has in-depth knowledge of many aspects of intellectual property laws beyond just patents, including valuable expertise in online issues, copyright and trade mark matters, and commercial arrangements in respect of intellectual property."
McCarthy's copyright group, standing strong in tier two, represents the Canadian Recording Industry Association in a dispute with BitTorrent site isoHunt Web Technologies. The case will decide whether peer-to-peer sites are liable for copyright infringement by its users. "It is a firm that's got a good set of talent," said a competitor. "It is active before the Copyright Board on behalf of different parties."