Principal Trademark Lawyer: Michele Ballagh Lawyer & Trademark Agent Admitted to Ontario Bar: 1999 Registered Trademark Agent: 2000 Download Michele's Profile

Michele has over 20 years experience practicing in the field of intellectual property law and offers a full range of intellectual property services.

She is authorized to practice as a trademark agent in both Canada and the United States. As an advocate, Michele has appeared at almost all levels of the Ontario Courts and at both levels of the Federal Court of Canada.

Michele’s fascination with intellectual property law grew out of an undergraduate degree and brief career in the performing arts. In law school, this background led her to study the various mechanisms through which the law seeks to regulate expression, including trademark and copyright law.

Upon graduation from law school in 1997, Michele joined Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP, then one of the leading intellectual property law firms in Canada. As an associate with the firm for almost 10 years, she learned the ropes of commercial litigation and became qualified to practice as a trademark agent in both Canada and the United States.

In November 2007, Michele set up her own practice and on January 1, 2009, she became a founding partner of Ballagh & Edward LLP. Over the course of 13 years, Ballagh & Edward LLP became a leading source for intellectual property law services in Hamilton, Ontario.

In 2021 Michele realized that it was time for another evolution in her practice. Effective January 1, 2022, Michele returned to sole practice as BLAZE IP.

Michele is an active member of the Hamilton Law Association where she has served as a board member and chair of the Corporate Commercial Committee and the Intellectual Property Institute of Canada where she leads a network of small firm and sole practitioners and has served as an occasional instructor for trademark agent trainees.

Education:

Bachelor of Arts, University of Toronto, 1990

Bachelor of Laws, Queen's University, 1997

Memberships:

Law Society of Ontario (LSO)

College of Patent Agents and Trademark Agents (CPATA)

Hamilton Law Association (HLA)

Intellectual Property Institute of Canada (IPIC)

American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA)