LES Member Spotlight
By Meredith Holmes
Q&A with Vincent Bergeron, Quebec City
V
incent Bergeron is a busy man. At ROBIC, a Canadian firm focused on intellectual property, he is Partner, Lawyer and Trademark Agent, and Leader of the Emerging Technologies Group. Vincent has been a member of LES since 2011, generously contributing his time and expertise, especially to the Young Members Congress (YMC) and the Young Members Committee of Quebec City. He finds time for other professional organizations as well. He is past president of the Quebec Division of the Canadian Bar Association’s Information, Telecommunications, and Intellectual Property section. He is a member of the advisory board of Blockchain Hub Quebec and co-founder of the crowdfunding platform, La Ruche. Vincent is a prolific writer and presenter. “I try to give as many presentations as possible to share insights on how the industry is evolving,” he said. “I lost count at some point, but I have written more than 160 publications and presentations.” He is the recipient of many honors and awards, and was recognized as being among the best technology law lawyers in Canada in 2019 and 2020. We caught up with Vincent Bergeron in August, and although he was preparing to leave for vacation with his family in northern Quebec, he graciously agreed to answer our questions.
practice in the fields of privacy, copyright, trademarks, patents, trade secrets, industrial designs, licensing and technology transfers. We have a very strong team of IP experts in the field of emerging technologies at ROBIC, so my main responsibilities are to coordinate the team of lawyers, patent agents and engineers who work in our specialized group.
Q:
What drew you to LES? What have you worked on, and what are your plans for future participation? A: Vincent: I first joined LES around
2011, following the advice of one of my mentors, François Painchaud, PastPresident of both LESI and LES (USA & Canada). At first I joined the Executive Committee of the Quebec City local chapter, then in 2014 I joined the LESI YMC Committee, to help engage more LES members worldwide. After a few years of involvement in the LESI YMC Committee, including as Vice-Chair of Communications, I was asked to contribute to the creation of the YMC Committee for LES (USA & Canada), for which I was the first Acting Chair. I then became Chair of the LESI YMC Committee in 2019-2020. I served with an amazing international team of YMC leaders, and our regional YMC events in Montreal, London and Seoul were recognized by LESI as the What are your practice areas “Outstanding Events of the Year.” After and your responsibilities at such a high note, I thought I might take a ROBIC? few years to relax, but I still had energy A: Vincent: I specialize in the internato contribute, so I am currently co-chair tional protection, defense and commerof the LESI Communications Committee. cialization of intellectual property assets I plan to join the LES (USA & Canada) related to information technology, particu- Board in October 2020, if all goes well. larly in the areas of artificial intelligence, What LESI involvement did big data, blockchain, software, video you find most interesting or games, internet of things, virtual reality personally meaningful? and other emerging technologies. I also A: Vincent: Being chair of the LESI
Q:
8 | LES Viewpoints
Q:
Vincent Bergeron, Partner, Lawyer and Trademark Agent at ROBIC
YMC Committee has been one of the most meaningful personal and professional experience of my life. I have had wonderful mentors within LES who inspired me— François Painchaud, Tilman Muller-Stoy, Jean-Hyacinthe de Mitry, Sherry Rollo, Natalie Raffoul and Tom Gaunt, to mention just a few. Helping LESI to actively engage with young members from around the world and making sure our content, activities and events were relevant, interesting and forward-looking was incredibly rewarding. I am so pleased to see the committee is now led by amazing people, such as Georgina Busku and David Swain. The future looks great! I hope to have an impact on the LES family for years to come.
Q:
What do you do to relax?
A: Vincent: I am indeed quite busy.
My wife and I have three young girls, the youngest of whom is just six months old! To relax, I jog, cycle and play board games with friends. I played in a band for five years, so I am a huge music fan. In fact, I always listen to music while working. I hope someday to have time to start another band. So, here’s a message to all LES members: we might join together on stage at some point in time!
