As Chair of the National Intellectual Property Section Executive of the Canadian Bar Association, I want to wish you all the best for a happy and successful 2025. The National IP Executive look forward to welcoming you to the 35th Annual CBA Federal Courts Judges’ Dinner and CBA IP Day on May 29, 2025. Don’t forget to mark your calendars! Check back often for more information soon.
Professional Development
We encourage you to bring forward, to the Executive, your ideas for webinars. We are currently in the planning phase of our programming, and would love to hear from you how we can better engage with, and hear from, you and others in your firms. Drop a note to any Exec member with your idea or email our liaison Cecilia Milanesi and we will see if we can turn it into something to the benefit of all members.
Committees
Speaking of benefiting all members, as you all know, the real work of the CBA is done at the committee level and we have active committees in Copyright, Counterfeiting & Trade Offences, Court Practice, Diversity and Inclusion, Patents & Industrial Design, Professional Development, Trade-marks, and Transactional IP. We also have active Branches within the CBA. If you aren’t involved as you would like to be, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us!
CBA Essay Contest
Let your students know of the Intellectual Property Section Law Student Essay Contest, which closes on April 25, 2025. This is a great way for your students to write about interesting Intellectual Property topics while planting a flag on their career paths.
Mentorship and Teaching
When it comes to careers, let’s not lose sight of the importance of mentorship. Keep those offices, coffee dates, and check-ups open – and if you are lacking a mentor in your life, please reach out to someone on a committee, on the executive, or someone within your workplace to make a connection. We all feel better about ourselves, and the other person, when we come together.
Andrew Shaughnessy
Chair of the CBA Intellectual Property Section