Monique M. Couture

About Monique M. Couture

Monique M. Couture is a partner and trademark agent in Gowling WLG's Ottawa office, where the work centres on keeping brands safe. Couture blends IP counselling with litigation, and the heaviest weight falls on enforcing trademarks, fighting counterfeits and getting marks registered. When a dispute needs a hearing, the partner goes before the Federal Court and the Federal Court of Appeal, and also handles matters at the Trademarks Opposition Board and before the Registrar of Trademarks.

Couture's career has an international streak. Called to the Ontario bar in 1995, the partner later spent four years based in Moscow, setting up the firm's anti-counterfeiting and litigation practice there and helping deliver a World Bank project on alternative dispute resolution. Clients can work with Couture in English, French or Russian.

Clients range from private companies to major multinational brand owners, and the files cover both disputes and non-contentious matters. Many globally recognized brands rely on Couture to look after their Canadian trademark portfolios, in sectors as varied as music, pharmaceuticals, fashion and hospitality.

Outside client work, Couture lectures on trademark law at the University of Ottawa's Faculty of Law and has spoken at conferences in Canada and Russia, and was a panelist at INTA's 2022 Annual Meeting on counterfeiting in the metaverse. Couture is rated a Trade mark star by Managing IP and is listed among the WTR Global Leaders for 2026.