Daphne Lainson

Partnering with her clients, Daphne is dedicated to helping innovators secure comprehensive patent protection for their chemical, pharmaceutical and biotechnology-related inventions.

Many of the world’s top innovators rely on Daphne’s advice and counsel. She is regarded by clients in the life sciences sector as an advisor who has “deep knowledge of the area, provides practical, well-grounded advice and is highly responsive” (IAM Patents 1000, 2018), as well as “[providing] unparalleled expertise in a thoughtful and friendly way. [She is] dedicated and knowledgeable” (Expert Guides: Women in Business Law).

With close to 25 years of experience in law and patent agency and an advanced degree in chemistry, she has been entrusted with protecting inventions across the spectrum of chemical innovation. Daphne enthusiastically champions and effectively safeguards her clients’ intellectual property rights relating to new drugs, biologics, medical devices, consumer products, agrochemicals, specialty chemicals, industrial chemical processes, oil, gas and petrochemicals.

Daphne provides strategic advice and counseling to clients across the life cycle of a drug, including during pre-clinical and clinical development through to marketing and loss of exclusivity. She also offers strategic advice regarding patents and data protection, including patent listing under the Patented Medicines (Notice of Compliance) Regulations, Certificates of Supplementary Protection, pricing and reimbursement including Patented Medicine Prices Review Board matters (PMPRB).

She has been recognized as an “experienced and pragmatic partner” to the world’s leading biopharmaceutical companies, and has been described as “brilliant at the intersection of IP and regulatory law” and as having “fantastic legal and business acumen, which she uses to provide thorough, best-in-class legal advice. She also has a tremendous ability to simplify and explain complex issues to non-lawyers, which helps hugely with decision making” (IAM Patents 1000, 2019).

What sets her apart is her experience in advising clients during patent procurement on the various issues that may arise relating to patent linkage under the Patented Medicines (Notice of Compliance) Regulations, regulatory data exclusivity under the Food and Drug Regulations, supplementary protection under the Certificate of Supplementary Protection Regulations, and market access issues, including relating to pricing of patent medicines under the jurisdiction of the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board. She is proactive in her advice, and is constantly looking for practical solutions to complex problems.

Daphne is actively involved in advancing knowledge within the industry through the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA); she is an AIPLA Fellow, and past Chair of the Food and Drug Law Committee, IP Practice in Japan Committee, Mentoring Committee and Women in Intellectual Property Law Committee. She also served as Chair of the AIPLA Mid-Winter Institutes in 2019 and 2021.

Daphne has also supported BIOTECanada in its mission to lead the advancement of a globally competitive Canadian biotechnology ecosystem.

Within Smart & Biggar, she plays a key role as a practice leader of the firm’s life sciences practice and in client relations management, particularly in key industrial markets, such as the U.S., Japan and Germany.

Her contribution to the IP community was recognized in the inaugural edition of the WIPR Influential Women in IP, where she was listed as one of 80 international female leaders in intellectual property law. She continues to be recognized in a number of other directories, including as an IP Star by Managing Intellectual Property, a World IP Review Leader in IP and a Lexpert ranked lawyer for IP and Biotechnology.