IPIC Announces Chris Dejardin as Recipient of the Shelley Jones Outstanding Contribution Award

IPIC’s Board of Directors is pleased to announce that Christopher (Chris) Dejardin is this year's recipient of the Institute’s Shelley Jones Outstanding Contribution Award. Chris received the award on September 27, 2024, for having gone above and beyond expectations of our volunteers at IPIC, for adapting the trademark training to the new exam format, developing significant content and teaching as well as being Chair of the Trademark Agent Training Committee for a second term, among other initiatives.

A two-time Chair of the Trademark Agent Training Committee and its longest-serving member, Chris was pivotal in the development of IPIC’s on demand trademark courses and has dedicated hundreds of hours to creating course materials and teaching trademark agent trainees. His leadership and dedication allowed IPIC to adapt our trademark agent exam prep courses to meet the needs of agents in training studying for the new exam format. This year, Chris led the development of IPIC’s first Trademark Agent Knowledge Test to prepare agent exam candidates for CPATA’s Trademark Agent Knowledge Exam. Chris is the volunteer this year who most fully aligned with the terms of the Shelley Jones Outstanding Contribution Award, thank you so much Chris, we couldn’t have done it without you! – IPIC CEO - Adam Kingsley

Chris has been a Trademark Agent and Partner at Cassan Maclean since 2016. His practice includes all aspects of trademark prosecution including searching and clearance, opposition and cancellation proceedings. He has extensive experience with Internet and domain name issues, having filed some of the earliest complaint proceedings under CIRA’s Dispute Resolution Policy. Chris is actively involved with the Intellectual Property Institute of Canada (IPIC), where he has served as a member of the Trademark Examination Board and as Chair of various committees including the Bulletin Committee and the Trademark Agent Training Committee (TMATC), the latter being responsible for the preparation and delivery of online courses directed to the continuing education of the agent profession in Canada.

As a strong believer of the importance of giving back to the IP profession, it is an honour to be recognized for my contributions to the many continuing education programs developed and delivered by IPIC. – Christopher (Chris) Dejardin, Outstanding Contribution Award Recipient 2024-2025.

Chris is a frequent speaker and presenter on a variety of topics related to trademark practice in Canada, including most recently as co-presenter of the Madrid module offered as part of the IPIC-McGill University Summer Courses in IP.  Chris has been recognized as one of the world’s leading trademark practitioners by World Trademark Reporter’s Top 1000 (WTR 1000) publication.  

In his free time, Chris enjoys cooking, playing trivia games and kayaking the numerous lakes and rivers in Eastern Ontario and Quebec.