Career series: Catherine Lemay, Hexo

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.