Sharon E. Groom

Partner


Toronto

Tel : 416.865.7152
Fax : 416.865.7048

Email : sharon.groom@mcmillan.ca
VCard : vcard

Professional Experience Sharon is a member of McMillan's Intellectual Property and Technology Law Group as well as its Competition Law Group. Her practice focuses on these areas.

Sharon has an extensive background in intellectual property having worked in private practice specializing in Canadian and US trademarks and copyright, as well as having been a Hearing Officer for the Trademarks Opposition Board.

She also brings a wealth of international corporate commercial and business expertise gained as in-house counsel for companies in the financial services, publishing and technology industries. Her positions have included Senior Vice President, Risk Management and General Counsel, Americas, for Thomas Cook; Director of Legal and Administrative Affairs and Assistant General Counsel for Harlequin Enterprises Limited where she managed a global portfolio of over 2,500 trademarks. She has also held a position as Corporate Legal Counsel for Newbridge Networks Corporation (now Alcatel Lucent).

Sharon is also an adjudicator for Resolution Canada Inc. to hear disputes over .ca domain names.

Sharon volunteers in several organizations, including the Honorary Governors' Circle of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and the Board of Directors of The Hummingbird (Sony) Centre for the Performing Arts.

publications and presentations

Presentations

  • Presentation on behalf of the Canadian Intellectual Property Office on Intellectual Property Basics-Import/Export Forum in Scarborough, Ontario, October 2009  
  • Presented a paper on Intellectual Property Issues in Sponsorship Deals-Strategic Sponsorship Marketing: The Canadian Summit®, October 2009  
  • Spoke on Intellectual Property Issues as part of the Five Good Ideas® series presented in Toronto by the Maytree Organization, April 2010
  • "Presenting on Intellectual Property" Law Society of Upper Canada Six Minute Business Lawyer, June 2006  
  • Co-chair, "Canadian Institute conference on Negotiating and Drafting Intellectual Property Licensing Agreements" - Presenting a Paper on trade-mark licensing, June 2006  
  • Co-chair, "The Business of Sponsorship: Practical Considerations when entering into Sponsorship Agreements" Insight 8th Annual Advertising and Marketing Law conference, November 2005  
  • "The Use of Trade-marks in Advertising - How to Avoid Trouble" Presented at the 2004 Canadian Marketing Association Conference on Branding and Strategic Planning, June 2004  
  • "Trade-mark Licensing" Licensing Executives Society, March 2003

May 2012
Private practice versus in-house
Co-chair and speaker, CWI Leadership for Women Lawyers Conference
April 2012
Patent and Trade-mark Licensing 101
Moderator, IPIC
March 2012
ring the bells
client alert
October 2011
Sponsorship Agreements
Presenter, Strategic Sponsorship Marketing: The Canadian Summit


  • advertising and marketing
  • competition/antitrust
  • corporate
  • intellectual property and technology law
  • private equity

  • Fellow of the Intellectual Property Institute of Canada
  • International Trademark Association
  • Chair of the Licensing Committee of the Intellectual Property Institute of Canada
  • Member of the Domains and Trade-marks on the Internet Committee of the Intellectual Property Institute of Canada
  • Adjudicator, Resolution Canada Inc.
  • Intellectual Property Committee of Canadian Chamber of Commerce
Called to the Ontario bar - 1988

INSEAD (Senior Executive Business Management Program), France, - 2000

Queen's University, LLB - 1986

Queen's University, B.Mus. (Piano Performance) - 1983