Baker McKenzie
BRIchardson

William Richardson

Partner
Baker & McKenzie LLP

Biography

William Richardson is recognized as a leader in IP litigation by his peers and numerous experts’ guides and ranking services, including Chambers Global’s The World’s Leading Lawyers for Business and The World’s Leading IP Strategists, IAM Patent 1000 - The World’s Leading Patent Professionals 2013, IAM Life Sciences 250 - World’s Leading Life Sciences Patent Litigators, 2016 Global Law Experts' Patent Litigation Lawyer of the Year in Canada, the International Who's Who of Life Science Lawyers, and The Best Lawyers in Canada. He was recently nominated by Who's Who of Professionals as Patent Advisor of the Year for 2012-13, and has been featured in the 10th, 11th and 12th editions of Who’s Who Legal: Canada and Euromoney’s Experts Guide to the World’s Leading Patent Law Practitioners. He was recently accepted as a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (London). William is a frequent speaker, lecturer and writer on intellectual property and litigation.

Practice Focus

William serves as lead counsel in high-stakes IP litigation, and serves as a trusted adviser and legal strategist to multinational IP rights holders. He regularly assists clients in the pharmaceuticals industry.

Representative Legal Matters

Patent Litigation

  • Defended the world's largest oil and gas company in two significant patent infringement actions in Canada involving automotive lubricants, resulting in a successful settlement after more than 10 years of hard-fought litigation.
  • Successfully represented the patent holder, one of the world's largest multinational consumer goods companies, against its most significant global competitor in a multijurisdicitonal patent dispute resulting in a finding of infringement for 17 years and upholding the validity of the patent in Canada.
  • Acted for a major brand pharmaceutical company in a landmark patent infringement action against Canada’s largest generic drug manufacturer involving the patent for a ‘block buster’ anti-cholesterol medication, successfully upholding the patent’s infringement and validity after a 16-week trial.
  • Acted as counsel to a domestic patentee involving a mechanical patent, resulting in a finding of infringement.

Trademark Litigation

  • Obtained an interim and interlocutory injunction for a national retailer against a major multinational consumer goods company who threatened to launch a new product globally bearing a mark confusingly similar to our client's trademark. The case was successfully settled.
  • Successfully prosecuted a trademark action, utilizing a Mareva Injunction to prevent the destruction of evidence, against a former Unilever distributor of Dickie Dee ice cream bars.
  • Defended Merck in a major passing-off and unfair competition brought by Boehringer Ingelheim involving Cox 2 Inhibitors.

Professional Associations and Memberships

  • Working Group 6 on IP Litigation
  • FICPI (International Federation of Intellectual Property Attorneys) - Member
  • Canadian Bar Association - Member
  • Intellectual Property Institute of Canada - Member
  • The Advocates' Society - Member
  • American Intellectual Property Law Association - Member
  • Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (MCIArb) - International Arbitration - Fellow
  • American Bar Association - Member, Chemical and Life Sciences Committee
  • Law Society of Ontario - Member
  • Intellectual Property Owners Association - Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology Issues Committee

Corporate Responsibility

  • Director, Past-Chair - Street Kids International
  • Member - Dalhousie University USD250 million capital campaign

Admissions

  • Ontario~Canada (1986)

Education

  • Dalhousie University (LL.B.) (1984)
  • Dalhousie University (Bachelor of Commerce) (1981)

Languages

  • English
Baker & McKenzie LLP, an Ontario limited liability partnership, is a member of Baker & McKenzie International, a Swiss Verein.