Category: About us

Education:

Accreditations:

I started my career with the Saskatchewan Ministry of Justice.

I started my own IP law firm, which became the Furman & Kallio firm, in 1995.  I practiced in that firm until joining MacPherson Leslie & Tyerman LLP in 2008 and founding Furman IP in 2013.  Over the course of my career I have had the privilege of working with a broad spectrum of clients, from individuals through to multinational corporations in varied industries, which has enabled me to gain and in turn provide to clients a broad and varied perspective to the creation or defense of value in IP.  What I enjoy in my practice is helping businesses to identify and unlock value in their invisible IP assets.  I also love international portfolio planning and helping clients to mesh their international market expansion and entry plans with their IP strategy.

I am a registered patent and trademark agent before the Canadian Intellectual Property Office.  I have prosecuted patent, trademark, copyright and design applications in the CIPO in many technical fields.  My litigation track record includes working as a part of the counsel team in the seminal case of Dutch Industries v. Commissioner of Patents, a case where on behalf of the applicant we were in first instance successful in overturning a patent on the basis of the entity status of a patentee and which resulted in the realignment of the entire entity status regime in patent law in Canada.

I am a member of the Intellectual Property Institute of Canada and the International Trademark Association (INTA).  Since joining INTA in 1997I have served in numerous committee membership and leadership roles.  I have been honored to be listed in the peer-reviewed Best Lawyers in Canada (Trademarks) and the Who’s Who Legal in Canada – Trademarks Law directories for Canada for the last number of years.

I hold my Chartered Director (C.Dir.) designation from the Directors College at McMaster University – I believe that one of the most important things in giving business-centric IP advice is to be connected with the business community, and I have worked in many volunteer capacities in our community over the years including as a board member of the Regina Children’s Festival and the Saskatchewan Angel Investment Network.  I served a five year term on the Board of Directors of the Saskatchewan Trade & Export Partnership, including acting as Vice-Chair and Governance Committee Chair, as well as 6 years on the Board of the Regina & District Chamber of Commerce culminating in the Chair in 2012.  I am currently the Board Chair of Creative Saskatchewan, a provincial government related entity responsible for catalyzing the creative industries in the province of Saskatchewan.  These governance engagements gave me a great opportunity to interact with the local business community and give back.

Where I can find time for hobbies – I drive my son around to sports, drink the odd glass of wine, and continue my pursuit of barbecuing the perfect beef brisket.