Michael J. Sgro Email & Phone Number

Ottawa, Canada Area

I draft and review provisional, PCT and direct (national) filing patent applications, and provide advice to clients regarding drafting, filing and prosecution strategies, both in Canada and abroad.I prosecute patent applications before the Canadian Intellectual Property Office. In doing so, I provide advice and prepare submission related to requesting accelerated examination (e.g. PPH, special order), responding to Examiner's Reports, voluntary amendments, and changes and/or issues with inventorship/ownership.I also prepare and review freedom-to-operate, validity and infringement opinions for the Canadian market, as well as documents related to regulatory filings for patented medicines in Canada.I work with patent professionals from around the world to provide instructions for national applications and to advise on the intricacies of Canadian patent practice.

Ottawa, Canada Area

I spent two summer terms during law school (May 2016 to August 2016; and May 2017 to August 2017) and completed my articling requirement (July 2018 to May 2019) at Smart & Biggar, during which times I worked on a range of tasks in all areas of intellectual property. I drafted and prosecuted provisional and Canadian patent applications, carried out patentability searches and was involved in preparing validity and infringement opinions for Canadian patents in the biotechnology and chemical (cosmetics) spaces.I reviewed and prepared documents, such as affidavits, and conducted legal research related to patent, trademark and copyright matters, and was involved in an assessing and formulating possible arguments for a matter that was ultimately argued before the Supreme Court. I also co-authored a firm marketing article related to changes to the Patent Act and Rules.

Calgary, Canada Area

The research I completed during my time as a postdoctoral fellow related predominantly to the investigation and identification of new small molecule precursors for use in preparing semiconductors; a project that was completed in collaboration with a major company operating in the semiconductor space. However, I also conducted fundamental research related to the development of new photo-driven small molecule catalysts. Contributions I made during my postdoctoral fellowship have been included in 6 peer-reviewed publications, and were the subject of a conference presentation I delivered at a major national chemistry conference. During this time, I also acted as a peer-reviewer for papers submitted to scientific journals; supervised and mentored undergraduate and graduate students; and lectured on the topic of single crystal x-ray diffraction. • .

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

The research I completed during my Ph.D covered a broad range of topics, including polymer chemistry, small molecule catalysis (olefin metathesis, hydrogenation, polymerization), small molecule activation and transformation (carbon dioxide) and lignin chemistry. The work was completed with a number of different goals in mind and involved collaborations with different peer groups. In this respect, I worked on projects that were completed alongside an industrial sponsor (Lanxess) with the goal of implementing new technologies in their manufacturing facilities, fundamental research completed only within the Stephan group, and as a part of a multidisciplinary collaboration between academic laboratories and the pulp and paper industry (Lignoworks) to find value added uses for lignin.During my Ph. D, I corresponded with intellectual property professionals to aid in the preparation of 3 patent applications that were the result of work I was involved in carrying-out, authored or co-authored 12 peer-reviewed publications and delivered 6 conference presentations.I also served as a teaching assistant for a second year laboratory course and as a tutorial leader for a first year chemistry course.

Juris Doctor (J.D.), Canadian Law/Legal Studies/Jurisprudence

Doctor Of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Inorganic Chemistry

Bachelor Of Science (B.Sc.), Chemistry