Catherine (Cat) Lovrics is a Partner at Marks & Clerk Canada and Head of the firm’s Trademark and Copyright Groups. Her practice focuses on trademarks, copyright, personality, publicity rights, marketing, advertising, and data and privacy law.

Cat is among Canada’s leading trademark and copyright practitioners. She has helped national and multinational clients protect, exploit, and enforce their IP in a wide range of industries, from entertainment and emergent tech to fashion and food. Cat manages large global trademark portfolios. She has coordinated clearance and filing projects, consumer products, licensing programs, and enforcement and anti-counterfeiting programs. She also handles all aspects of trademark and copyright clearance, rights acquisition, licensing, and enforcement.

In 2023, Cat was appointed to the Board of the Intellectual Property Institute of Canada (IPIC).  She is the former Chair and an ongoing member of IPIC’s Copyright Committee. She was also a Member of the Canadian Trademark Opposition Board’s Advisory Committee, collaborating with the Chairperson of the Trademark Opposition Board on policy implementation and practice updates. She has served as an expert witness on IP matters before Canada’s Standing Committee on Industry and Technology. She is a Board member of Artists and Lawyers for the Advancement of Creativity, which coordinates the pro bono clinic Artists’ Legal Advice Services, commonly known as ALAS.

Cat is a Founder and Co-Chair of the Canadian Chapters of the Copyright Society of the USA, and a former Trustee of the Society. She also serves on Ad Standards Council and presides over consumer advertising complaints. 

Over the years, Cat has received various awards and accolades, the most recent of which include: 

1.         Chambers & Partners Canada Legal Guide – Intellectual Property 2024 

2.         Best Lawyers in Canada – Advertising & Marketing Law 2024

3.         Lexpert ALM 500 – Intellectual Property 2024

4.         World Trademark Review 1000 - Prosecution and Strategy 2024

5.         WWL Global Elite Thought Leader – Copyright 2024

6.         WWL Canada – Trademarks 2024

7.         MIP IP Stars – Copyright Star 2023

8.         IPIC – Shelley Jones Outstanding Contribution Award 2022-2023

9.        Lexpert’s Canadian Legal Directory – Intellectual Property - 2023

Recent speaking engagements include:

• Big Data and AI Toronto, annual conference - Generative AI
• CAN-TECH Law, Fall conference - IP and Contracting in the Metaverse
• Canadian Artists’ Representation/Le Front des artistes canadiens (CARFAC) – AI + The Artists’ Voice
• Intellectual Property Institute of Canada - In Fashion:  From AI to Copyright to Counterfeits – How to Navigate the Challenges in Style