Ilya Kalnish

Ilya Kalnish is a partner in our Intellectual Property (IP) group and a member of the BCF’s Board of Directors.

He is a patent agent in Canada and a trademark agent in both Canada and the United States. He is also a seasoned professional specializing in artificial intelligence (AI), information technology (IT), and mechanics. He has a proven record of providing effective patent support to major international corporations and smaller start-ups and scale-ups, enabling them to develop appropriate intellectual property strategies.

Ilya has been successful in obtaining watertight legal protection for inventions in multiple countries, while optimizing related cost-benefit ratios. He has developed specific expertise in computer-implemented inventions and, particularly, AI-implemented inventions, such as search algorithms, recommendation engines, self-driving cars, natural language processing, and dental planning, to name a few.

In addition to end-to-end patent portfolio management, Ilya has developed in-depth skills and expertise in IP risk management. He regularly advises international businesses and local entrepreneurs on assessing IP risks in support of pragmatic and effective business decision-making. He also regularly assists clients with freedom-to-operate opinions, patent-invalidity opinions, patent-landscape analyses, and competitive portfolio insights.

Before joining BCF, he held key intellectual property management posts at leading corporations in Toronto, including Bell Canada (a major Canadian Telco) and Husky Injection Molding Systems Ltd. (the world’s largest supplier of technology solutions, including injection-moulding solutions). During his time at Husky, Ilya was instrumental in developing internal IP management strategies. His innovative approach led to the Husky Legal/IP team winning the 2010 Inside Counsel Award for its “holistic patent strategy.”

In his in-house practice, Ilya has grown to appreciate the importance of pragmatic and business-centric IP advice. He has built expertise in bridging the business needs of C-suite leaders, inventors, and in-house legal departments.

Above all, Ilya’s experience has taught him how important the timely and well-rounded IP advice is in the business leaders’ decision-making toolbox. Accordingly, he manages each mandate with a strong drive and dedication so as to achieve his clients’ business goals.

A native of Russia and fluent speaker of English, Russian, and Bulgarian, Ilya is able to connect with diverse audiences and ply his communication skills to their benefit.

In 2017, 2018 and 2019, Ilya received the Client Choice Awards, a prestigious annual international award that honours the best professionals in the legal sector, as selected by clients.