Gunars Gaikis

Gunars Gaikis is one of Canada’s premier and most experienced life sciences intellectual property litigators. He holds the role of Of Counsel in Smart & Biggar’s Toronto office, and has more than 25 years of experience in the highly specialized field of pharmaceutical patent, trademark and related litigation.

He has been described by independent IP lawyers’ reviewers as a “seasoned gladiator”, praised as a “a skilled fighter and lifecycle strategist for original drugs companies”, a “wonderful litigator", “one of the best patent litigators since the industry began”, an “IP Star” and a “Life Science Star”. He has been recognized as amongst the world’s leading life sciences patent litigators, as an outstanding biotechnology lawyer and as one of the top thirty patent attorneys in the world, amongst his many accolades. Most recently in IAM Patents 1000, clients commented: “Gunars has granular knowledge of the evolving regulatory framework and crafts arguments which get to the core of the dispute. He has represented AstraZeneca in many notable skirmishes, including an ongoing landmark Supreme Court case against Apotex which promises to have a significant bearing on the ‘promised utility’ doctrine”. He has appeared as lead counsel in numerous intellectual property cases before the Ontario, Federal and Supreme courts.

Gunars was counsel in the first cases commenced under the Patented Medicines (Notice of Compliance) Regulations in 1993, and over the past 20-plus years has continued to represent innovators in numerous precedent setting decisions in NOC and related litigation. He has also shaped the law through his trial and appellate work in pharmaceutical patent litigation. His work includes protection of IP assets relating to esomeprazole, omeprazole, ramipril, lisinopril, trastuzumab, ciprofloxacin, ranitidine, naproxen and doxorubicin, to name a few.

He also regularly counsels clients in pharmaceutical patent procurement, data protection, PMPRB, IP lifecycle management and drug regulatory matters, and provides invaluable pre-litigation advice and due diligence.

Gunars also has extensive expertise in pharmaceutical trademark and passing off cases, and has succeeded in obtaining preliminary injunctions in such trademark cases in both the Ontario Superior and Federal Courts.

As a licensed pharmacist and having completed a residency program in clinical pharmacy, Gunars is very familiar with medical, biotechnology and pharmaceutical matters, including the relevant regulatory issues. This background coupled with his in-depth expertise in complex life sciences patent litigation make Gunars an invaluable asset to clients operating in these fields.