Equip yourself with the knowledge to anticipate change, make informed decisions, and strategically position yourself in the ever-evolving landscape of patent law. Whether you find yourself navigating the complexities of patent prosecution, litigation, or licensing, our in-depth Intensive is designed to ensure that you stay ahead, informed, and empowered

Presenters

Melissa McGrath, Barrister, Nigel Bowen Chambers
Melissa McGrath is a specialist intellectual property lawyer with degrees in both law and science who advises domestic and multinational clients on commercial issues and dispute resolution strategy. She has worked with clients such as Universal Music Australia, Sony Music Australia, Westpac, Vodafone, Warner Chapel Music Australia, Louis Vuitton Malletier, Cadbury, Samsung, H Lundbeck and Mylan.


Natalie Shoolman, Principal, Wrays
Natalie Shoolman is an experienced commercial litigator who specialises in intellectual property and technology litigation and the intersection between intellectual property and competition and consumer law. Natalie has been voted by her peers as one of Australia's Best Lawyers in Intellectual Property Law (Best Lawyers Australia 2019 - 2022), ranked by IAM Patent 1000 – Patent Litigation - Bronze (2021), recommended for patent litigation (2018) and recognised as a Rising Star (2020-2021) in Managing Intellectual Property’s IP Stars. She is considered to be one of Australia's leading "next generation" Intellectual Property lawyers (The Legal Asia-Pacific 500: 2017- 2019). With a First Class Honours degree in Science and a passion for innovation, Natalie has significant experience acting for and advising clients on all aspects of intellectual property law across a broad range of industries including pharmaceutical, biotechnology, software, telecommunications, government, clean energy, mining and FMCG. Natalie's practice includes patent infringement and revocation proceedings, patent oppositions, copyright, trade mark and design infringement, breach of confidence and consumer law disputes. Natalie has particular expertise in managing complex, multi-jurisdictional patent infringement and revocation proceedings and advising clients on ways to maximise the life of their patent portfolios.


Paul Whenman, Consulting Partner, FB Rice
Paul Whenman is a consulting partner in our Sydney chemistry team. As a qualified patent attorney, Paul has had a distinguished career with the firm as managing partner for 10 years. Throughout his 37 years’ practice in FB Rice, he has gained significant experience in chemically related patents, including pharmaceuticals, animal health products, food technology, personal care products and alloys. Indeed a significant component of Paul’s practice relates to the interplay between the regulation of pharmaceuticals and animal health products and patent systems. Of particular relevance is the patent term extension regime in Australia and foreign jurisdictions. Commensurate with his deep understanding of patent law and chemical technologies, Paul regularly publishes articles offering opinions and insights into a variety of topics. With a significant international reputation, Paul has been recognized as an IP Star for patent prosecution in Managing Intellectual Property for a number of years, most recently in 2022. He is also listed by IAM as a Strategy 300 IP strategist 2022. As the importance of South East Asian markets have grown, Paul maintains a strong focus on IP developments in those countries as means of providing the best experience for clients. Within FB Rice, Paul has trained and mentored many attorneys. An important component of this training has been a focus on the ethical considerations relevant for attorneys and the conduct of an attorneys practice. The experience gained as managing partner and subsequently as life sciences practice group leader combined with the technical and legal foundations as a practicing attorney, have provided Paul with a significant depth of knowledge of relevance to all patent and trade mark attorneys. In reliance of this knowledge, IPTA invited Paul to deliver two presentations to its members on ethics in 2020-2021.


Kate Wilson, Registered Patent Attorney, KTPI Enterprises
Kate, a former founding partner of James & Wells, is a registered patent attorney (in New Zealand and Australia), has degrees in physics and chemistry, and is internationally recognised as a leading IP strategist with particular experience in patent matters. She is also an educator in all matters IP and intangible asset related and has extensive expertise in establishing and managing IP portfolios. After stepping down from the James & Wells partnership in 2015, Kate established some non-IP related businesses and sits on a number of corporate boards. Kate is now focussed on providing strategic IP and business advice as a consultant at James & Wells.


Phoebe Arcus, Barrister, 5 Wentworth Chambers
Phoebe Arcus is a Barrister at 5 Wentworth Chambers, specialising in intellectual property (including patent, trade mark, copyright, design and domain name disputes), corporate law and trade practices and is recognised as a leading junior counsel in intellectual property in numerous legal ranking guides, such as Chambers & Partners, the Doyle’s Guide and Best Lawyers, among others. Phoebe is a member of the Intellectual Property Committee, Business Law Section of the Law Council of Australia and a member of the Wellbeing Committee of the New South Wales Bar Association. Prior to the bar, Phoebe worked as a solicitor for King & Wood, Mallesons, Sydney and as an Associate to Hon. Justice Bennett SC AC AO of the Federal Court of Australia. She is also admitted in the United States (New York) and is a current member of the New York Bar Association.


Dr. Mark Summerfield, Patent Attorney, IP and Technology Consultant
Dr Mark Summerfield is a registered Trans-Tasman Patent Attorney, specialising in patent law and practice in the fields of digital and computer systems, information and communications technologies, and computer software. Mark provides consultancy services on patents (including drafting and prosecution), IP strategy, and related matters in his specialist technology fields. He is also currently a PhD candidate at the Melbourne Law School where he is investigating applications of natural language processing technologies to the analysis of patent claims with application to patent law and policy. He worked for over a decade with one of Australia’s leading boutique IP firms advising individuals, companies and research institutions on management and protection of their intellectual assets. Since 2010 Mark has maintained a blog (patentology.com.au), where he writes regularly on local and international issues relating to innovation, patents, law, policy and the IP profession. He speaks regularly on topics related to patents, IP and digital technology, and lectures on Australian patent practice at the University of Melbourne.


Ben Mee, Barrister, 5 Wentworth Chambers
Ben Mee specialises in Intellectual Property law, and holds a BSc (Biochemistry)-LLB (Hons I, University Medal), and an LLM in Commercial Law (Hons I) from Cambridge University. Ben has particular strength in patent matters in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and information technology/software sectors, and appellate work. He is recognised in Band 1 for Intellectual Property by Chambers and Partners, and is listed in Doyle’s Guide, Who’s Who Legal, and Best Lawyers Australia. He regularly appears led and unled in the Federal Court, Patent Office and Trade Marks Office. Prior to being called to the Bar in 2014, he practised as a solicitor with Allens in intellectual property and competition law, and was an Associate to former Chief Justice of the High Court the Hon RS French AC.


John Scicluna, Senior Associate, Griffith Hack
John Scicluna is a registered patent and trade marks attorney based in Sydney. With a background in materials science in the private and research sectors, John’s experience enables him to work across multiple areas of technology. He has experience working with a broad range of clients from individual inventors and small to medium enterprises, to large global businesses and research organisations.


Robert Wulff, Principal, Griffith Hack
Robert Wulff is a Sydney-based principal of national IP firm Griffith Hack IP Attorneys & Lawyers, having joined the firm in 1989. Robert's patent practice is focused on Australia's resources & building products industries and energy technologies. He works with a range of organisations to develop offensive and defensive IP strategies, working closely with his firm’s litigators and IP management consultants. He also has extensive experience in registered designs and is a WIPO-accredited designs expert. Robert is a registered patent attorney with degrees in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering from the University of Sydney. Robert holds an equivalent Masters of Science in Chemical Engineering from the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm.