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Alexander E. MacRae, after obtaining his engineering degree from Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, did wartime work in munitions before working as a Patent Examiner for the Canadian Patent Office. Mr. MacRae thereafter left the Patent Office to join Marks & Clerk, an old British firm, where he did patent and trade-mark work, and was also the first manager of the Ottawa office.

Mr. MacRae was a driving force behind the founding of the Canadian Institute of Patent Solicitors, precursor of what is today the Intellectual Property Institute of Canada (IPIC). He chaired the organization meeting for the Institute, which was held in his office on January 31, 1925, and served as secretary-treasurer of the Institute until he was elected president in 1941.
 

Feeling the need to be more independent, Mr. MacRae left Marks & Clerk and formed the firm Alex E. MacRae & Co. in 1934, operating out of 56 Sparks Street in Ottawa, establishing a solid patent and trade-mark practice with his associates. The office relocated to 100 Sparks Street in December 1965, where Mr. MacRae continued to work on a consultancy basis until his death on September 2, 1973.

In December 1975, the firm moved to 85 Victoria Street in Hull, Quebec, a heritage stone construction built in 1888 for Basile Carrière, a local business man, which was originally a general store. The location was of great strategic value, being adjacent to the Canadian Patent and Trade-mark Offices, which are still located at 50 Victoria street, making it convenient for our searchers to consult patent and trade-mark records. The firm changed its name to MacRae & Co. in 1993.

The years 2000 and 2001 were ones of great change. We left 85 Victoria Street, our home for the last 25 years, having outgrown the available space, and moved into new offices located in the downtown area of the Nation's Capital on January 1st, 2001, occupying the 6th floor of 222 Somerset Street West.

In recent years, the availability of online patent and trade-mark databases has resulted in less reliance upon CIPO's on-site records. Our new offices, while being centrally located, still allow our searchers easy access to CIPO's vast inventory of patent and trade-mark records whenever necessary.

Today, MacRae & Co. endeavours to carry on the excellence of its patent and trade-mark services, and continues to answer the intellectual property needs of its many present-day knowledge and technology-driven clients.

Some information taken from HISTORY OF THE PATENT AND TRADE MARK PROFESSION IN CANADA, Gareth E. Maybee, Q.C. / Robert E. Mitchell, 1985. ISBN: 0-9692056-0-0, available through IPIC; and The Ottawa County, a historical guide to the National Capital Region, Public Works Canada, Ottawa, 1968, Queen's Printer.