Cory Furman, Q.C., C.Dir.

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.

Colin Rasmussen, Ph.D.

Dr. Rasmussen is a member of the Law Society of Saskatchewan as well as the State Bar of California.  Colin’s background includes experience and emphasis on patent prosecution in Canada and the United States.  He has worked in the patent law field in several firms including Furman & Kallio, Bennett Jones LLP and McDermott Will & Emery LLP.  Colin has broad experience in patent law including freedom to operate, infringement and validity analysis in the pharmaceutical field, in addition to his broad subject matter experience in patent prosecution.

Colin’s Ph.D. grad work at Baylor College of Medicine culminated in his defence in 1988 of his thesis “Calmodulin Levels Regulate the Rate of Cell Cycle Progression”.   He was previously a tenured Associate Professor in the Departments of Anatomy and Cell Biology at the Universities of Alberta and Saskatchewan, and a post-doctoral fellow at Baylor College of Medicine.

At present Colin is a member of the institutional review board at the Loma Linda VA Hospital, and the current President of the Board of Directors of the Loma Linda Veteran’s Association for Research and Education

Anna Hengen

Email: [email protected]

Tel: + 1 306 992 5835

Anna’s background includes a linguistics degree from the University of Regina and a year-long stint teaching English as a second language in Spain after which she decided to settle down in her hometown and found the perfect fit at Furman IP.  Anna’s responsibilities at Furman IP include fielding client inquiries, preparing legal documents, and everything in between!

Lorna Giljam

Email:  [email protected]

Tel:  +1 306-992-5834

Lorna’s background includes accounting roles in the legal and construction industries.  Lorna’s responsibilities include handling client accounting, billing and collections functions as well as internal accounting and performance measurement.    In addition to Lorna’s accounting interface with clients, she is always a “go to” person if you need any kind of assistance with instructions, deadlines or other matters or otherwise need a point of contact at Furman IP – she makes it happen, with a smile!