Michael Shortt is a partner at Fasken’s Montreal office, where he practices as a lawyer and trademark agent. His practice focuses on both litigation and transactional work, with an emphasis on the videogame and life science industries. A member of the Québec and Ontario bars, he advises clients on common-law, civil-law, and federal matters.
As a litigator, Michael represents clients in intellectual property, commercial, and public law disputes. He has represented clients before the Supreme Court of Canada, the Federal Court and Federal Court of Appeal, the Ontario and Québec superior courts, and the Copyright Board. His litigation philosophy is based on obtaining cost-effective results through creative legal arguments. Michael clerked at the Ontario Court of Appeal and the Quebec Superior Court, and worked as a research assistant for a well-known commercial arbitrator, allowing him to bring a unique perspective to litigation and advocacy.
In his transactional work, Michael drafts and negotiates a range of commercial contracts, including intellectual property licences, service agreements, consumer contracts, confidentiality agreements (NDAs), and videogame publishing contracts.
As a trademark agent, Michael assists clients in obtaining trade-mark registrations in Canada and manages their global trademark portfolios. His trade-mark practice covers a broad array of industries, including software, videogames, and consumer goods ranging from pharmaceuticals, to food, to fashion.
Michael co-founded the firm’s videogame industry group and works for videogame development studios and publishers of all sizes. He reviews, negotiates, and drafts contracts in the videogame industry, as well as providing compliance advice for consumer protection law, language laws, and other regulatory issues.
In his spare time, Michael volunteers on pro bono legal cases and writes on current legal topics. His law review articles have been cited by the Federal Court, the Alberta Court of Appeal, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, and the Ontario Court of Appeal. For five years he was a coach for the McGill Faculty of law’s team in the Mignault civil-law moot competition, and has been a guest lecturer at McGill University and the University of Ottawa.
