Canada is among the most prominent countries for patent filings in the world. Roughly 40,000 patent applications are filed in Canada each year. Hence, Canadian patent firms play an important role in the patent landscape and some firms are among the largest firms across the world.
Over the time window of 2015 until 2019, The largest patent prosecution law firm in Canada is SMART & BIGGAR/FETHERSTONHAUGH. This firm represents almost 5,900 patent applications a year. They are number one in foreign filings (= filings of foreign priority, i.e. the first filing was done abroad), but are only on rank 5 for domestic filings (= first filing done in Canada).
The top two firms in domestic filings are NORTON ROSE FULBRIGHT and GOWLING WLG and they are also No. 2 and 3 in terms of overall filings. They account for roughly 4,500 filings per year overall.
BERESKIN & PARR, BORDEN LADNER GERVAIS LLP, RIDOUT & MAYBEE LLP and ROBIC are rather close together in the range of 1,900 to 2,500 filings each year.
The top 10 firms did not change much over the previous years. Nor are they changing their ranks frequently. However, please note that the positions for 2019 is not yet final since there will be further filings be published over the upcoming months that relate to filings from previous years, especially 2019.
For domestic filings, we find several firms in the top ten that play a minor role in terms of the overall number of filings. Most notably, MCGARRY BAIR PC who are on rank 6 for domestic filings, but only rank 61 for foreign filings. A similar pattern exists for ADE & COMPANY and PERRY + CURRIER (PCKIP) and BCF BUSINESS LAW.
The ratio of PCT based filings (PCT applications as well as PCT national phase entries in Canada) is for most of the firms around 70-80%. Hence, roughly 20-30% are direct filings that do not involve a PCT (in Canada or abroad). However, there is exceptions, even at the very large firms. For example NORTON ROSE FULBRIGHT shows a ratio of 55%.
Together, the top 10 firms represented roughly 65% of the overall filing volume in Canada which shows a rather concentrated picture in comparison to other countries.
