Melissa Binns
Partner
- Year of Call, Ontario (2007)
Bio
Melissa Binns is a partner in the Hamilton office of Gowling WLG, practising in the Intellectual Property department.
Melissa practises in the areas of patent and trademark litigation and pharmaceutical regulatory law, as well as copyright litigation and licensing. Her litigation and enforcement experience spans a broad range of subject matter, including biotechnology, pharmaceutical and related processes, apparel, computer software and information technology, domain names, branding, and famous trademarks. Melissa has appeared as trial, application, and motion counsel in intellectual property litigation proceedings before the Federal Court, and acts for a wide range of Canadian and foreign clients including leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.
Melissa is also a registered trademark agent and regularly provides advice to Canadian and international clients regarding the protection and enforcement of trademark rights in Canada, including trademark opposition and expungement proceedings, trademark infringement, trademark litigation, and anti-counterfeiting matters.
In addition to courtroom experience, Melissa regularly represents and advises clients on pharmaceutical regulations, biologics, life cycle issues, listing on the patent register, data protection, settlement negotiations and patent litigation, including patent infringement actions, patent impeachment actions and proceedings under the Patented Medicine (Notice of Compliance) Regulations and Patented Medicine Prices Review Board.
Prior to studying law, Melissa was a cancer researcher and teaching assistant at the Kingston General Hospital and Queen's University working in the areas of molecular biology and microbiology.
In 2018, Melissa was named a Lexpert "Rising Star - Leading Lawyer under 40" in recognition of her outstanding achievements.