IPIC100 Legacy Series: Gowling WLG’s Gordon F. Henderson

In Canadian intellectual property circles, few names connect the worlds of practice, professional governance, and institutional building as clearly as Gordon F. Henderson (1912–1993). Over a career rooted in Ottawa, Henderson became a central figure in the evolution of Gowlings (now Gowling WLG) as a leading IP firm, while also shaping the profession through deep involvement with the Intellectual Property Institute of Canada (IPIC).

A career launched at Gowlings—and built around IP

Henderson joined the firm then known as Henderson, Herridge, Gowling and MacTavish in 1937, beginning what would become a decades-long influence on both the firm and the Canadian IP bar. Over time, he became chairman of the firm, a role that reflected not only leadership but the centrality of IP to the firm’s identity.

Although Henderson’s career spanned business, civic leadership, and cultural institutions, he is best remembered professionally as an intellectual property lawyer with an unusual appetite for building the infrastructure around IP—how it is reported, taught, administered, and governed.

Building the profession: IP reporting and institutional memory

One of Henderson’s most notable contributions was his role in strengthening how Canadian IP law was tracked and understood. In 1941, he founded the Canadian Patent Reporter (CPR), a continuous case reporter for Canadian IP decisions. According to biographical accounts, Henderson wrote every headnote and comment for the CPR’s until his death—an extraordinary editorial commitment that helped systematize Canadian IP jurisprudence for practitioners and courts.

That work mattered. In an era when IP decisions were less easily accessible and less consistently organized, the CPR helped Canadian patent and trademark practice become more coherent, professional, and predictable—exactly the kind of “behind-the-scenes” work that allows a specialty to mature.

Henderson and IPIC: leadership in a defining period

Henderson was heavily involved in IPIC, the country’s national professional body for IP practitioners.

His involvement culminated in his election as President of IPIC (1953–1955)—a period when the Canadian patent and trademark profession was becoming more organized and nationally integrated in the postwar economy.

For a modern Gowling WLG IP leader, that detail is more than a historical footnote. It is a clear institutional signal that by the mid-twentieth century, the firm’s IP leadership was not simply participating in the profession, it was helping lead it.

A broader IP footprint: copyright and collective licensing

While patents and trademarks defined much of Henderson’s professional identity, his imprint on Canadian IP extended powerfully into copyright, particularly music rights. Biographical sources credit him as instrumental to the formation of SOCAN, serving as its lawyer and later chairman, and helping guide the restructuring of performing rights organizations that ultimately merged into SOCAN in 1990.

This work sits naturally alongside his IPIC leadership: both reflect a career committed to strengthening institutions that allow IP rights to be administered credibly—whether through professional standards (IPIC) or collective licensing frameworks (SOCAN).

Leadership at Gowling WLG—and a legacy honored in Ottawa

Henderson’s professional stature was matched by his standing in Ottawa’s legal community. In 2019, the County of Carleton Law Association’s renovated courthouse library was renamed the Gordon F. Henderson Library, explicitly recognizing his role as former chairman and partner of Gowling WLG and a prominent figure in local legal history.

The naming is fitting, as Henderson’s career itself was defined by building lasting legal infrastructure, reporting systems, professional governance, and community institutions. Many of which still live on to this day.

IPIC is proud to have had Gordon Henderson as a Past President of the Institute and as significant part of our 100-year legacy. 

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Since 1926.

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