John Myers practices primarily in the areas of intellectual property protection and enforcement (copyrights, trademarks, domain names, trade secrets, confidential information and patent litigation), with an emphasis on issues related to the pharmaceutical industry. Since 1991, he has represented clients before the Manitoba and British Columbia Courts, the Federal Court of Canada and the Supreme Court of Canada, and in arbitrations before the World Intellectual Property Organization, the National Arbitration Forum and the International Chamber of Commerce, and has coordinated litigation before the courts in the Republic of Singapore, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and numerous jurisdictions within Canada and the United States.

Partner
Born Montréal, Quebec, April 18, 1958; admitted to the Bar of Manitoba in 1991.

Education
Dawson College Professional Theatre Program (1975-1978); University of Winnipeg (B.A., 1987); University of Manitoba (LL.B., 1990).

Member
Intellectual Property Institute of Canada; Canadian Bar Association; Manitoba Advocates Society; Association des Juriste D'Expression Française du Manitoba; Life Science Association of Manitoba; and the Canadian International Pharmacy Association.

Positions
Freelance stage manager and production coordinator for major performing arts festivals and regional theatre companies (1975-1984); Manitoba Culture, Heritage and Recreation - various activities including acting as the Grants Analyst for Manitoba's major cultural institutions (1984-1990);  Member of the Board of Directors of the Children's Hospital Foundation of Manitoba (1987-2007), having served as its President in 2000-2002;  Member of the Board of Directors of the Manitoba Institute of Child Health Inc., serving as its Secretary; Secretary and General Counsel of the Canadian International Pharmacy Association.  He has been Chairperson of the firm's Intellectual Property Group since 1997.

Lecturer
University of Manitoba Faculty of Law;  Law Society of Manitoba Bar Admissions Course and is a frequent speaker at conferences and seminars in Canada and the United States relating to all aspects of intellectual property with an emphasis on the pharmaceutical industry (detailed list available upon request).

Author
The 1998 Isaac Pitblado Lectures, John A. Myers and John-Paul Bogden, "Protecting and Enforcing Intellectual Property Rights:  A (Short) Primer".

Range of Litigation and Regulatory Matters
Mr. Myers, with the assistance as required of an experienced team of other lawyers and paralegals, conducts the following types of litigation:

• copyright, trademark and patent disputes
• proceedings under the Patent Medicines (Notice of Compliance) Regulations
• confidential information and trade secret disputes
• acting as a supervising solicitor for the execution of Anton Piller orders
• issues arising from employee migration in high-tech industry sectors
• responding to regulatory issues, primarily in the pharmaceutical field
• supervising litigation and commercial arbitrations in the United States, Europe and Asia

Peer Recognition

• Recipient of the Teddy Award of the Children’s Hospital Foundation in September 2006
• Recipient of the Commemorative Medal for the Golden Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II for making a "significant contribution to the community, his fellow citizens and to Canada" as an advocate for child health and pediatric research
• Recipient of the Manitoba Bar Association's Pro Bono Public Interest Project Certificate of Recognition for 1999
• Recipient of the Manitoba Bar Association's Community Involvement Award for 1996-1997
• Accepted the Mayor's Volunteer Service Award on behalf of 1500 Teddy Bears' Picnic Volunteers in 1996
• William McAllum Memorial Scholarship for the Study of Law (1987-1989)

Cases of Note

Apotex Fermentation Inc. v. Novopharm Ltd. [1998] 10 W.W.R. 445 (Man CA): obtained an award of damages and costs totaling $6.5M as well as a 6-year Injunction in a case involving the misappropriation of trade secrets relating to a pharmaceutical product.

Apotex Fermentation Inc. v. Novopharm Ltd. [2000] M.J. No. 24 (Man. Q.B.): obtained an order extending the duration of an injunction imposed against Norvopharm for an additional 18 months, bringing the total to 7.5 years.

Finlay v. Canada (Minister of Finance) (1993) 101 D.L.R. (4th) 567 (S.C.C.): a challenge to the Government of Canada's interpretation of the Canada Assistance Plan relating to overpayment deductions from welfare recipients.

Rodriguez v. British Columbia (Attorney General) (1993) 107 D.L.R. (4th) 342 (S.C.C.): represented a disability rights organization in a case involving a challenge to the Criminal Code provisions relating to assisted suicide.

Pulse Microsystems Ltd. v. SafeSoft Systems Inc. [1996] 134 D.L.R. (4th) 701 (Man. C.A.): a successful appeal which set aside an Anton Piller order and gave guidance to counsel obtaining such orders.

Shaw Cablesystems (Manitoba) Ltd. v. Canadian Legion Memorial Housing Foundation (Manitoba) (1997), 143 D.L.R. (4th) 193 (Man. C.A.): obtained an order preventing a cable company from unilaterally terminating a 25-year old service contract entered into with a non-profit housing cooperative.

Winnipeg Child and Family Services (Northwest Area) v. D.F.G. [1998] 1 W.W.R. 1 (S.C.C.): acted for an intervenor in a case which examined a court's jurisdiction to order a pregnant woman into a treatment program for substance abuse.

Merck & Co. v. Canada (Minister of Health) [1998) 79 C.P.R. (3d) 57 (Fed. Ct. T.D.): successfully defended Apotex Fermentation Inc. in a judicial review proceeding that attempted to quash a Notice of Compliance for the drug Apo-Lovastatin.

Canada (Attorney General) v. McKenna (1998) 167 D.L.R. (4th) 488 (Fed. C.A.): represented the Intervenor Adoption Council of Canada in relation to provisions of the Citizenship Act that discriminate against adoptive families. Ms. McKenna's two adopted children were ultimately granted Canadian citizenship.

M & D Farms Ltd. v. Manitoba Agricultural Credit Corporation [1998] S.C.J. No. 65 per Binnie J.; [1999] 2 S.C.R. 961: obtained an injunction preventing the Manitoba Agricultural Credit Corporation from selling farm property and ultimately obtained an order returning the farm property to the debtor.

Merck & Co. v. Pharmaforte PTE Ltd. [2002] 2 SLR, 515 (H.C.); affirmed [2000] 3 SLR 717 (C.A.): successful defence of Singapore distributor for Apotex Inc. where the trial and appeal courts concluded that there was no infringement of certain process claims and the court declared the product claims of Merck's patent to be invalid.

News Datacom Ltd. et al v. Northern Satellite Technologies Ltd. et al unreported Order of Darichuk J. granted October 24, 2000 (Man. Q.B.): acted as supervising solicitor for the execution of an Anton Piller order in the direct to home satellite television industry.

Paul Clark et al v. Nucare LLC [2006] MBCA 101:  a successful appeal which set aside a Mareva injunction and attaching order and gave guidance to counsel attempting to obtain such orders.

AstraZeneca Canada Inc. et al v. Manitoba et al [2006] MBCA 21:  leave to appeal dismissed 2006 Can LII 35589 (S.C.C.): successful appeal relating to the manner in which the drug Apo-Omeprazole is to be listed on the Manitoba Interchangeability Formulary.