François Painchaud

François Painchaud specializes in business law applied to key technology sectors such as Life Sciences and Information Technology. He is frequently involved in the drafting and negotiation of complex transactions related to technology transfers and joint ventures, as well as in commercial and corporate law, including creation of consortiums, venture capital, and mergers and acquisitions. He was named Lawyer of the Year in 2014 and 2018 – Information Technology in Montréal and in 2015 and 2019 – Technology Law, two categories of Best Lawyers. He was also named Technology Transfer Lawyer of the Year in Canada by the Corporate INTL Magazine Global Awards, and he has been a constant member of the Intellectual Asset Management‘s Leading 300 IP Strategists for over 10 years.

Called to the Québec Bar in 1986, François Painchaud has been a partner at ROBIC for more than 25 years. He is a member of the firm’s management committee and heads the Business Law group.

He serves on the board of directors or as corporate secretary of various private and public organizations operating in life sciences and other technology driven fields, including: Specialty Pharma Searchlight Pharmaceuticals Inc., CQDM – Consortium Québécois en développement du médicament, Neomed Institute, CATALIS Québec, and more. He also serves on the Board of charitable organizations such as the Cancer Research Society, La Mosaïque Foundation and the Canadian Louis Pasteur Foundation.

He is also a member of several business associations. He is past president of both the Licensing Executives Society International (LESI) and the LES USA & Canada Inc. Academically, he was a lecturer at McGill University for four years for the course entitled Complex Legal Transactions – Trade Secrets Law and Technology Transfers and lecturer in courses on business law at Concordia University’s MBA program. He has also been involved for several years as part of a licensing course on Trademark Law, jointly organized by the Intellectual Property Institute of Canada (IPIC) and McGill University.

François Painchaud is frequently solicited to give lectures in various areas of technology transfers and intellectual property in commercial transactions for several business groups and associations.

He also contributed to the annual update of the book Robic-Leger, Canadian Trade Marks Act Annotated and the drafting of Robic-Leger, Canadian Copyright Act Annotated, both published by Carswell. He regularly publishes articles in his fields of specialization.