Melanie Baird

Practice Areas

Melanie’s diverse litigation practice encompasses intellectual property, complex commercial, class actions, product liability, cannabis and technology disputes. She is the go-to Canadian litigation adviser for a wide array of world-leading clients, and has twice been named the Canadian IP Litigator of the Year by Benchmark (in 2022 and again in 2023).

Melanie excels at litigating cases in emerging fields. She was counsel in the first biologic and biosimilar drug patent cases in Canada in addition to numerous precedent-setting trials, applications and appeals. She works extensively with life sciences companies on complex litigation of all sorts and is intimately familiar with the business of pharma and biotech. Melanie also has broad experience in the software, technology and social media spaces, dealing with commercial, patent, trademark, copyright and licensing disputes. She leverages her unique experiences to handle a wide variety of complex commercial disputes, adeptly devising strategic options and navigating cross-border issues. Melanie is sought after for advice on litigation strategy, evaluation and management of IP portfolios, and regulatory issues.

Professional Memberships

Melanie regularly speaks on advocacy and IP topics in Canada and the US. She is an active member of The Advocates’ Society, the Ontario and Canadian Bar Associations, the American Bar Association, the Intellectual Property Institute of Canada and the Intellectual Property Owners Association.