John Scott McKeown

John supervises obtaining, protecting and licensing trademarks and hundreds of successful trade mark applications. He is involved in many opposition proceedings before the Trade-marks Opposition Board and actions for infringement.

John has particular expertise regarding actions relating to copyright. He is the author of McKeown, Fox, on Canadian Law of Copyright and Industrial Designs (3rd Edition, 2000; 4th Edition, 2003), the leading copyright textbook in Canada. The 4th edition has been released in a loose-leaf form and builds on the success of the 3rd edition. The text is updated semi-annually. John and the text have been referred to by both the Supreme Court of Canada and the Federal Court of Appeal as an authoritative source.

John’s textbook, Brand Management in Canadian Law (1st Edition, 2004; 2nd Edition, 2006; 3rd Edition, 2010; 4th Edition, 2016) considers brand management from a legal perspective. The components which make up a brand, a consumer’s perception of a brand, brand equity, brand leverage and integration are discussed. Additional chapters deal with legal considerations relating to choosing a brand name, branding on the internet, protecting the components of a brand and developing effective brand management policies. A second edition was published in 2006 and a third edition was published in June 2010, and the fourth edition was published July 2016.

In Canadian Intellectual Property Law and Strategy: Trademarks, Copyright and Industrial Designs, John provides an overview of Canadian law relating to trade marks, copyright and industrial designs along with strategic commentary designed for legal practitioners outside Canada. The book was published in March 2010 by Oxford University Press. The publication of the book was taken over by LexisNexis and 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 editions have been published. Their plan is to publish a new edition each year.

John is currently the Chairman of the Canadian Bar Association Trademarks Committee and heavily involved in the trademark reform process.

John is also the Chair of the American Bar Association International Trademark Treaties and Laws Committee.

John’s practice includes:

Intellectual Property
Advertising & Marketing
Competition
Litigation