Stephanie Chong

Partner

Stephanie practises exclusively in the area of intellectual property law, with a focus on general IP counselling, trademark prosecution, trademark portfolio management, and IP litigation.  She has acted as counsel in proceedings in both the Federal and Ontario Courts, as well as before the Registrar of Trademarks.  Stephanie’s clients range from large multi-national corporations to start-up ventures.

Stephanie is a frequent writer and speaker on a wide variety of IP-related topics.  Stephanie’s academic papers and articles have appeared in national and international publications including The Trademark Reporter, European Intellectual Property Review, Canadian Intellectual Property Review, and Canadian International Lawyer.  One of her papers, “The Relevancy of Ethical Concerns in the Patenting of Life Forms”, Canadian Intellectual Property Review, Vol. 10, No. 1 (1993) was cited by the Supreme Court of Canada in the Harvard Mouse case, Harvard College v. Canada (Commissioner of Patents), [2004] 4 S.C.R. 45. Stephanie has also spoken for numerous organizations including the Canadian Bar Association, the Intellectual Property Institute of Canada, and the Osgoode Professional Development Program.

Stephanie started her legal career at a national Bay Street firm, and continued her practice at a Toronto IP boutique firm before joining Tabrizi Law Office in March 2007.  She continues to provide her clients with practical, cost-effective advice gained during her many years of experience.  Stephanie has received special recognition from her peers, as evidenced by the award of a “BV” Peer Review Rating by LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell (signifying a high legal ability and exemplary reputation) and recommendation in the Canadian Legal LEXPERT Directory for Intellectual Property Law.

Stephanie has a strong working knowledge of both written and spoken French.

Notable Experience 

• Successful counsel in the Pink Panther Case, United Artists Corp. v. Pink Panther Beauty Corp. (1998), 80 C.P.R. (3d) 247 (F.C.A.), a precedent-setting case on famous trademarks
• Counsel for a multi-national manufacturer of nutritional supplements in trademark litigation in the Federal Court and in trademark opposition proceedings
• Counsel for a creative design company in litigation in Ontario Superior Court involving copyright and other IP issues
• Responsible for managing international trademark portfolios for clients including a solar energy company and a manufacturer of industrial products
• Has provided general IP counselling to numerous clients including a multi-national Internet service provider, a communications company, a consulting entity in the nutraceutical field, and a non-profit historical organization
• Experienced in providing trademark clearance opinions and prosecuted trademark applications for numerous Canadian and foreign entities
• Served as Interim Counsel, Patents and Trademarks, for Novopharm Ltd., one of Canada’s largest pharmaceutical companies

Education 

• Master of Laws (LL.M.) in Intellectual Property Law, Osgoode Hall Law School, Toronto, 2004
• Called to Ontario Bar, 1994
• Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.), University of British Columbia, Vancouver, 1992
• Honours Bachelor of Science (Microbiology), University of Toronto, 1989

Professional Memberships

• International Trademark Association
• Canadian Bar Association
  • Currently serving as Chair of the National Intellectual Property Section
• Intellectual Property Institute of Canada
  • Currently serving as a Member of Forums & Seminars Committee and the Domain Names and Trade-marks on the Internet Committee
• Law Society of Upper Canada

Boards and Community Involvement

• Yee Hong Foundation
  • Currently serving on the Board of Directors as a member and Secretary of the Board to raise funds for seniors’ homes in the Greater Toronto Area which provide culturally-appropriate care to members of the Chinese-Canadian and other communities
• Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyers (Canadian affiliate of National Asian Pacific American Bar Association)
• Federation of Chinese Canadian Professionals

When not practising law...