Former Cronos lawyer supports marketing and advertising for global brands at Danone
Andrew Kaikai has joined Danone Canada as senior legal counsel, effective June 14. Kaikai’s portfolio includes marketing and advertising support as well as commercial contracts for the multinational food manufacturer. He is also responsible for assessing legal risks and helping to shape Danone Canada’s legal and compliance frameworks, ultimately promoting and protecting the business.
Prior to joining Danone, Kaikai spent two years at cannabinoid company, Cronos Group where he primarily worked on intellectual property matters. He has also worked as an intellectual property associate and trademark agent at Ridout & Maybee LLP.
“The opportunity to work at a large global company doesn’t come along every day so I was pleased to take this new role,” says Kaikai. “It’s also great to have a chance to work for a much leaner team with more responsibility and the possibility of having the final word on certain issues, which isn’t always possible in a larger team.” Danone’s legal team consists of just four people including the general counsel.
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Kaikai is looking forward to learning more about each of the brands at Danone and being involved with such brands, many of which are household names around the world.
“The brands I’m working with now are generally available brands. They are in grocery stores, they are everywhere really, and they appeal to a wide audience, so just being able to work on marketing campaigns and advertising review for brands that everyone knows is something I’m looking forward to quite a lot,” he says.
Although he will be less focused on intellectual property than he was in his prior role at Cronos, Kaikai expects to advise global teams on local IP issues which may include the IP ramifications of taglines and advertising campaigns. He looks forward to observing how Canadian and international IP issues intersect, and working to protect the global brand while maintaining a local focus.
“I’m fortunate to be at a company that’s quite established and has a long history of very solid processes that work very well,” says Kaikai.
Kaikai attended law school at the University of Ottawa where he graduated magna cum laude and in the top five of his graduating class.