Catherine Lemay, assistant general counsel–IP at cannabis company Hexo, outlines her career path and what her working day may entail.
Tell us about the course of your career
I started my career in IP working for the Canadian Government (Health Canada) in a group responsible for administering the Patented Medicines (Notice of Compliance) Regulations, the Canadian version of the “Orange Book” regime in the US.
I started working there part-time and then full-time after my chemistry degree while I was completing my law degree. It was an amazing experience that gave me a lot of insight into the pharmaceutical/biotech industry and how patents can have a huge impact on that market.
I then worked for a boutique IP law firm in Montreal to complete my articles for my law degree. After obtaining my law degree, I moved to Germany and worked as a patent specialist for a large multinational pharmaceutical company, Schering (now Bayer Pharmaceuticals), for two years in the in-house patent department in the field of oncology.
Catherine Lemay, Hexo, cannabis, IP, Health Canada, diversity, inclusion, equality, National Research Council of Canada