Peter Giddens 

aperçu

• Registered Trade-mark Agent (Canada) 

Peter Giddens is a Partner in our Toronto office and a member of the firm's Intellectual Property Group.

Peter provides advice concerning the acquisition, development, clearance, management, protection, enforcement and licensing of intellectual property, with a particular emphasis on trade-mark, copyright and domain name issues.  He has appeared in the Ontario and Federal Courts on matters including trade-mark infringement, passing off, copyright infringement and patent infringement.  Peter regularly provides clearance opinions for clients concerning the availability of proposed trade-marks for use and registration, prosecutes applications to register trade-marks before the Trade-marks Office, represents clients in trade-mark opposition and expungement proceedings before the Trade-marks Opposition Board, and co-ordinates foreign trade-mark filings and portfolios.  Peter also represents clients in domain name dispute proceedings, and has appeared before arbitration panels of the World Intellectual Property Organization and National Arbitration Forum.

Peter Giddens' recent work also includes: enforcing trade dress rights; structuring complex trade-mark licence agreements; negotiating IP transfer agreements; consulting regarding corporate re-branding initiatives; and providing advice concerning comparative advertising, grey marketing of consumer goods, ambush marketing, misappropriation of personality, copyright infringement in communication signals, software licensing and infringement, and issues concerning on-line trade-mark use (including keyword advertising, deep linking, framing, metatags, typosquatting and gripe sites).

After articling with the firm's Toronto office in 1997-98, Peter joined the Intellectual Property group as an associate lawyer in 1999 and has been a partner since 2006.

Representative Matters

• Acted as intellectual property counsel to Rogers Media in its acquisition of CityTV from CTVglobemedia
• Acted as intellectual property counsel to AXA Canada in its acquisition of The Citadel General Assurance Company
• Acted as intellectual property counsel to Trader Media Corp. in its acquisition by Yellow Pages Media Group
• Advised Rogers Stadium Limited Partnership, part of Rogers Communications, on intellectual property issues during its purchase of the Toronto SkyDome (now Rogers Centre)
• Acted as intellectual property counsel to Rogers Communications in its acquisition of The Toronto Blue Jays Baseball Club and continues to provide intellectual property advice to the team's ownership, including sponsorship, licensing and marketing activities
• Provides ongoing counsel to world-famous brands in industries including: beverage alcohol, insurance, financial services, furniture retail, professional sports; entertainment; film production; telecommunications; education; cosmaceuticals; food; security; professional services; software; kitchen appliances
• Meets with government officials regarding proposed changes to Canada's trade-mark legislation and regulations

Publications

News

Education

• Dalhousie University, LLB - 1997
• Dalhousie University, B.Sc. (Hons. Biology) - 1994

Year Of Call

• Barreau de l'Ontario - 1999

Directorships and Professional Associations

• International Trademark Association (INTA), Vice-Chair of the Trademark Office Practices Committee (2016-2017)
• International Trademark Association (INTA), Trademark Office Practices Committee (2010-2011)
• Intellectual Property Institute of Canada (IPIC), IPIC/CIPO Joint Liaison Committee on Trade-mark Practices
• Foreign Affiliate Member of American Intellectual Property Law association (AIPLA)  
• International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property (AIPPI)
• Canadian Bar Association
• Ontario Bar Association

Awards & Rankings

• Recognized by Best Lawyers in Canada 2019 as a leading lawyer in the area of Intellectual Property Law
• Listed in Best Lawyers in Canada 2018 as a leading lawyer in the area of Intellectual Property Law
• Repeatedly recommended, Intellectual Property, in the 2017 Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory
• Listed in the Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory 2016 as leading lawyer in the area of Intellectual Property
• Listed in World Trademark Review's WTR 1000 – The World's Leading Trademark Professionals
• Listed in Managing Intellectual Property's IP Stars - The Guide to the World's Leading IP Firms and Practitioners
• Recipient of the International Trademark Association Service Award for the Advancement of Trade Mark Law, 2005