Christopher Wilson
Partner
Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP
Related services and key industries
Biography
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Chris Wilson acts as lead counsel in Canadian trademark, copyright, patent and trade secrets litigation, at trial and on appeal. His cases include precedent-setting decisions dealing with topics such as Internet keyword advertising and domain names, the constitutionality of Canada's official marks regime, contempt for violation of an intellectual property injunction, and one of the largest monetary judgments for breach of confidence in Canadian history.
In his practice, Chris manages the intellectual property needs of multinational and local clients across numerous industries, including alcoholic beverages, software and video games, consumer products, traditional and e-commerce retailers, public authorities and regulatory bodies, financial services, natural resources, and many others. His practice focuses on enforcement and disputes, including trademark actions and appeals from the Trademarks Opposition Board, patent infringement and ownership disputes, software disputes, copyright and industrial designs, parallel imports (grey marketing), and all manner of issues relating to the Internet, including dealing with defamatory statements and conduct on the Internet and social media.
Chris is recognized as a "Litigation Star" by Benchmark Litigation, has been named "Intellectual Property Lawyer of the Year" for Vancouver by Best Lawyers, and is recognized by Chambers Global, World's Leading Trademark Professionals and others in the area of intellectual property litigation.
Prior to entering law, Chris worked as a software programmer and software designer. He also has a particular interest in wine on the trademark side of his practice. He is the president of the Canadian Wine Law Association (AIDV Canada) and a director of the International Wine Law Association, and founded and co-hosts the annual Wine & Liquor Law Conference held in Vancouver, now held under the auspices of AIDV Canada.
Chris is currently the Vancouver local chair of our intellectual property group.
Professional experience
Collapse allLL.B., University of British Columbia, 1997
B.A., University of British Columbia, 1992
- British Columbia 1999
Matters in which Chris has acted include:
- C.C. Jentsch Cellars Inc. v O'Rourke Family Vineyards Ltd. et al, 2018 FC 875 (counsel for C.C. Jentsch Cellars successfully defending against O'Rourke Family Vineyards's motions for production of documents, the late introduction of an expert survey, and attempt to convert the proceeding into an action, in this wine industry trademark dispute)
- Vancouver Community College v Vancouver Career College (Burnaby) Inc., 2017 BCCA 41, rev'g 2015 BCSC 1470 (counsel for the successful appellant in this passing off and official marks dispute primarily over the trademarks VCC and VCCollege, used online and in keyword advertising)
- Defended an international commercial vacuum manufacturer against patent infringement claims relating to three patents for central vacuum cleaning system control subsystems. The patents related to programmable control units with a remote user interface that can display operating condition messages via wireless duplex communication means, and a power conditioning module claimed to comprise a triac driven by a phase-angle or pulse width modulation gate drive signal: Federal Court of Canada, File no. T-782-17
- Acted for an international group of plaintiffs in the sawmill industry in a patent infringement claim against a British Columbia manufacturer of log feed rolls and replacement flute inserts. The patents related to the mechanical configuration of replaceable flute inserts on anchor sections fixed to a cylindrical feed roll with v-shaped flute elements: Federal Court of Canada, File no. T-488-17
- XY, LLC v Canadian Topsires Selection Inc. and others, 2016 BCSC 1095, appeals dismissed 2016 BCCA 469 (obtained judgment for $269 million against a network of local and international companies run by an individual, Jesse Jia Bei Zhu, as well as $60 million in damages against two individual employees, additional punitive damages, and injunctive relief, in this ongoing action for breach of confidence)
- XY, LLC v Jesse Jia-Bei Zhu and others, 2015 BCSC 1524 (and unreported sentencing reasons dated December 16, 2015); appeals dismissed 2016 BCCA 276 and 2016 BCCA 323 (counsel for the plaintiff in this contempt application, resulting in a six-month jail sentence for civil contempt for failing to pay a judgment and deliver up infringing intellectual property)
- Saint Honore Cake Shop Limited v Cheung’s Bakery Products Ltd., 2015 FCA 12, var’g 2013 FC 935 (counsel for the respondent in this Federal Court of Appeal decision regarding the admissibility of expert evidence about the difference between fluency and literacy in Chinese languages, and upholding a local Vancouver Chinese bakery’s opposition to a Hong Kong bakery enterprise’s trademark applications)
- XY, LLC v Canadian Topsires Selection Inc. and others, 2012 BCSC 1797, 2013 BCSC 584, 2013 BCSC 780 and 2014 BCSC 1331 (counsel for the plaintiff in this series of decisions upholding Anton Piller (civil search warrant) and Mareva (asset freezing) injunction orders against various defendants in this ongoing trade secrets dispute)
- London Drugs Limited v International Clothiers Inc., 2014 FC 223 (counsel for London Drugs in this appeal from a Trade-marks Opposition Board decision)
- Bodum USA, Inc. v Meyer Housewares Canada Inc., 2012 FC 1450; aff’d 2013 FCA 240 (represented Bodum at trial and on appeal in this dispute over the registered trademark FRENCH PRESS used in association with coffee presses)
- Lexpert Special Edition: Litigation, 2024: Recognized as a leading lawyer
- Best Lawyers in Canada: Information Technology Law, Intellectual Property Law 2013-2025; Corporate and Commercial Litigation, 2014-2025; Technology Law, 2023-2025
- World Trademark Review (WTR) 1000: Silver: Enforcement, (2013-2024)
- Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory, 2016-2017, 2019-2024: recommended in Computer & IT Law; 2016-2024: recommended in Intellectual Property, Litigation - Intellectual Property
- Benchmark Litigation Canada: Litigation Star 2021-2024
- Managing IP, IP Stars, 2023-2024: Trademark star
- Chambers Canada, Nationwide: Intellectual Property: Litigation, Chambers and Partners, 2016-2023
- Chambers Global, Canada: Intellectual Property - Litigation, Chambers and Partners, 2018-2023
- The Lexpert Special Edition: Health Sciences, 2021: Recommended as a leading health science lawyer based on his work in intellectual property in health sciences
- LexisNexis - Martindale-Hubbell: Distinguished (2016-present)
- Canadian Bar Association, national intellectual property section
- Honorary executive member and past chair
- Federal Court practice committee
- Fellow, Intellectual Property Institute of Canada
- British Columbia Technology Industries Association
- Patent and Trade-mark Association of British Columbia
News
2024 WTR 1000 recommends 17 lawyers and regional trademark practices
February 09, 2024
Trademark practices, lawyers recognized in WTR 1000 2023
February 14, 2023
Trademark practice recognized in WTR 1000 2022
March 04, 2022