Fiona's impeccable instincts for advocacy changes outcomes and provides strategic and value-added advice for clients' projects and litigation matters.

Fiona Legere is a partner in McCarthy Tétrault LLP’s Toronto Litigation group and co-lead of the firm's National Pharmaceutical Industry Group. Fiona's intellectual property practice involves litigation and strategic advice in the areas of patent and Patented Medicines (Notice of Compliance) proceedings, as well as regulatory, trademark and copyright matters. She maintains a significant trial and appellate litigation practice, with a focus on complex commercial litigation almost exclusively in the area of intellectual property.

Fiona is a trusted advisor to a number of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies. Fiona has worked extensively with pharmaceutical companies on patent strategy, regulatory and commercial cases. She has had years of experience acting alongside in-house counsel for a major pharmaceutical company, and this unique client-side perspective allows her to deliver practical advice for clients with an understanding of their internal realities. Known for her highly personable and practical approach, Fiona has managed and coordinated multi-jurisdictional patent enforcement actions.

Fiona also advises global telecommunication companies on patent matters. She successfully acted as counsel in the first NPE (non-practicing entity) telecommunication patent case in Canada. Fiona provides strategic pre-litigation advice to clients on how to effectively deal with NPEs.

In addition to counseling on a range of patent, trademark and copyright issues, Fiona is depended on to negotiate complex strategic settlements and business agreements, with an eye to positive business and litigation outcomes.

Fiona has a record of success in many significant cases before the Ontario Superior Court, Ontario Court of Appeal, the Federal Court of Canada, and the Federal Court of Appeal. 

Some of her recent notable experiences include representing:

• EMD Serono and Merck Serono in ongoing patent litigation involving the drug, MAVENCLAD (cladribine).
• Regeneron and Bayer in several ongoing patent infringement actions involving the blockbuster drug, EYLEA (aflibercept). 
• AbbVie in several ongoing patent infringement actions involving the blockbuster drug, HUMIRA (adalimumab). 
• Merck in a patent impeachment trial against Pfizer related to a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (V114). Merck successfully cleared the path to launch its V114 vaccine in Canada. Merck v Wyeth, 2021 FC 317.
• Bell Canada and TELUS in a patent infringement trial involving their IPTV systems against Rovi. The Court dismissed Rovi’s case and found all four asserted patents to be invalid. Rovi Guides et al v. Bell Canada and TELUS, 2022 FC 1388.
• Bell Canada in a trademark infringement lawsuit involving Bell’s FIBE trademark.
• Bell Canada, TELUS and Rogers in a patent infringement action commenced by TracBeam involving wireless telecommunication services. 
• Bell Canada in a patent infringement trial relating to FIBE TV against Mediatube. The Court dismissed Mediatube’s case and found the patent to be not infringed. Mediatube v. Bell Canada, 2017 FC 6 (aff’d 2019 FCA 176).

Fiona obtained a B.Sc. with Distinction in Biochemistry from the University of Western Ontario in 2006. She obtained a J.D. from the Osgoode Hall Law School in 2010 and was called to the Ontario bar in 2011. After law school, Fiona clerked at the Federal Court for Justices Snider, Crampton and Boivin. 

Fiona is a member of the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA), the Intellectual Property Institute of Canada (IPIC), the Law Society of Ontario (LSO), the Ontario Bar Association (OBA) and the Canadian Bar Association (CBA).