Ivor M. Hughes joined Heenan Blaikie in 2008. Prior to joining the firm, he was the founding partner of Ivor M. Hughes, an intellectual property firm which specialized in providing research and litigation strategies for clients across a broad spectrum of industries, including pharmaceutical companies worldwide. Mr. Hughes brings to the firm’s Intellectual Property Group more than 30 years of experience and extensive knowledge of patents especially in the pharmaceutical field.

He is known for his novel approaches in the area of patent law having formulated successful legal strategies, not only for Canada but also for the U.S., Europe, Australia and New Zealand, in respect of intellectual property which resulted in precedent-setting decisions. For example, unlike mainstream opinion, Mr. Hughes was convinced that copyright did subsist to protect the programs stored in storage media under the provisions of the Copyright Act of 1926. As one of Apple Computer Inc.'s counsel, he was rewarded for his convictions in the precedent-setting decision of the Supreme Court of Canada in Apple Computer, Inc. v. Mackintosh Computers Ltd.

His approach to trade-marks, copyright, and other intellectual property matters is equally innovative and successful. Mr. Hughes more recently has focused his attention on patent infringement actions and Patented Medicines (Notice of Compliance) Regulations proceedings in Canada and Paragraph IV certifications leading to infringement actions in the U.S. with respect to medicines.

Mr. Hughes is a registered patent agent in both Canada and the United States. He is a Fellow of the Intellectual Property Institute of Canada and a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada, the Canadian Bar Association, the York Region Law Association, the American Bar Association, the Toronto Intellectual Property Group, the American Intellectual Property Law Association and the International Trademark Association.