Heer Law

Intellectual Property; Trademarks; Brand Management; Trademark Prosecution and Oppositions; Intellectual Property Litigation; Licensing and Commercialization; Intellectual Property Strategy

Stephanie Chong is a partner at Heer Law, an intellectual property lawyer and a registered trademark agent. Her practice focuses on the strategic acquisition, management, commercialization and enforcement of trademarks and other intellectual property rights.

Stephanie advises clients ranging from emerging and mid-sized businesses to large multinational companies. She assists clients with trademark clearance and filing strategies, prosecution, portfolio management, licensing, brand expansion and enforcement. She also represents clients in contested proceedings before the Trademarks Opposition Board and in intellectual property disputes before the Federal Court and Ontario courts.

Her practice combines trademark-law expertise with commercially focused brand strategy. Stephanie advises businesses on developing and protecting brand portfolios in Canada and internationally, resolving registrability and infringement concerns, responding to oppositions and enforcement threats, and using intellectual property rights to support broader commercial objectives.

Stephanie has also served as Interim Counsel, Patents and Trademarks, for one of Canada’s largest pharmaceutical companies. This in-house experience informs her practical approach to portfolio management, legal risk, budgeting and the relationship between intellectual property strategy and business priorities.

Stephanie is recognized as a WTR Global Leader and is ranked in the Gold Tier for trademark prosecution and strategy by World Trademark Review 1000. She is also recognized for intellectual property law by the Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory and The Best Lawyers in Canada.

Stephanie joined Heer Law as a partner in 2026. Before joining the firm, she was a partner at KMB Law and Hoffer Adler LLP, where she practised exclusively in intellectual property law and developed an established national and international trademark practice.

She has held numerous leadership positions within the Canadian intellectual property profession. Stephanie served as President of the Intellectual Property Institute of Canada from 2020 to 2021 and was the first racialized person to hold the position in the organization’s history. Before becoming President, she served in other executive roles, including Treasurer, Secretary and Vice-President.

Stephanie was also the inaugural Chair of IPIC’s Indigenous IP Committee and has contributed extensively to the organization’s equity, diversity and inclusion initiatives. She is a Past Chair of the Canadian Bar Association’s National Intellectual Property Section.

Internationally, Stephanie was appointed as the sole Canadian member of the International Trademark Association’s inaugural Belonging and Inclusion Council. She has also served as a subcommittee chair of INTA’s Trademark Office Practices Committee.

Stephanie frequently speaks and writes on trademark law, brand management and other intellectual property issues. Her publications include articles and academic papers for Canadian and international publications, as well as a chapter in a textbook on intellectual property litigation.

A paper written by Stephanie was cited by the Supreme Court of Canada in Harvard College v. Canada (Commissioner of Patents), the leading Canadian decision addressing the patentability of higher life forms. Research completed for her Master of Laws degree, comparing the legal protection afforded to famous trademarks in Canada, the United States and Europe, was published in The Trademark Reporter.

English, French, Chinese (Mandarin)

• Law Society of Ontario

• College of Patent Agents and Trademark Agents — registered trademark agent

• Intellectual Property Institute of Canada — Past President, 2020–2021

• Canadian Bar Association — Past Chair, National Intellectual Property Section

• International Trademark Association

• International Trademark Association, Belonging and Inclusion Council — inaugural member and sole Canadian appointee

• Former Subcommittee Chair, International Trademark Association Trademark Office Practices Committee

• Inaugural Chair, Intellectual Property Institute of Canada Indigenous IP Committee