Obtain in-depth analysis and updates from eminent legal minds covering recent significant decisions from the Federal Court and High Court of Australia in trademarks and patents law plus hear about Indigenous Knowledge and the GRATK Treaty from IP Australia’s subject matter expert, Morris Ark. All this plus an up-to-date review of ethical issues for Trade Mark and Patent Attorneys in 2025.

Presenters

Lynne Lewis, Partner, Lewis Integrated Legal Services
Lynne is an experienced and respected advisor in the area of intellectual property. She is particularly recognised for her work in trade marks, patents, copyright, breach of confidence and advertising litigation. Lynne specialises in litigation and commercial advice across a broad range of industries including, pharmaceutical; biotechnology; medical devices; fast moving consumer goods; automotive; aviation; fashion; food and beverages; financial services; energy and resources; and telecommunications industries.


Natalie Shoolman, Principal & Head of Litigation & Dispute Resolution, 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.


Julie Robb, Solicitor and Mediator, The Olive Rooms
Having practised at a major national firm for several years, Julie joined Banki Haddock Fiora from the Arts Law Centre of Australia, where she was Executive Director, in 1998. Julie heads the firm’s dispute resolution group. She is highly regarded for her commercial approach to resolving conflict and her expertise in intellectual property litigation. She is an NMAS accredited mediator and represents foreign and Australian companies and individuals, principally in the Federal Court of Australia and the Supreme Court of New South Wales. Julie is a member of the Litigation Law and Practice Committee of the Law Society of New South Wales. She is a recognised practitioner in the World Trademark Review’s list of 1000 leading trade mark professionals, an IP Star in the Managing Intellectual Property Handbook and was a finalist in Lawyers’ Weekly Intellectual Property – Partners of 2017. Julie also co-ordinates the firm’s pro bono practice.


Sean McManis, Principal, Davies Collison Cave
After 24 years at Shelston IP, where he was head of the trade marks team, Sean has recently joined Davies Collison Cave, one of Australia's leading intellectual property practices. Sean is a solicitor and registered trade mark attorney, with qualifications both in science and law, and has more than 30 years experience in the field of trade marks. He has worked principally in Australia, but has also worked in the United Kingdom. His practice extends to all aspects of trade mark related work, with a particular focus on brand clearance, the resolution of trade mark disputes and the enforcement of intellectual property rights. Sean has represented a significant number of large multi-national companies in relation to the management and protection of their trade mark portfolios, and is well-recognised as a leading professional in the field of trade marks. Sean has been recognised in the WTR 1000: Ranked under Prosecution and Strategy, 2020 – 2022, IP Stars: Trade Mark Star, 2021 and Client Choice Awards Finalist: Best IP Specialist, 2020.


Angus Lang SC, Tenth Floor Selborne/Wentworth Chambers
Angus Lang is a barrister at Tenth Floor Chambers in Sydney specialising in intellectual property litigation. He has appeared in numerous patent, copyright, trade mark and trade practices disputes at trial and appellate level. Mr Lang practises throughout Australia, primarily in the Federal Court of Australia, the Federal Circuit Court, and the patent and trade mark offices. His clients include market leaders across a variety of industries, including mobile telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, media, mechanical engineering and consumer goods. Mr Lang teaches intellectual property law at undergraduate and graduate level in Australia and Europe. For a number of years he has conducted comparative intellectual property law courses at the Humboldt-Universität in Berlin and the Martin-Luther-, Universität in Halle, Germany. He also lectures in intellectual property at the University of Sydney and the University of New South Wales. Mr Lang has published regularly in the field, in Australian and international journals. His current research interests include aspects of patent claim construction, patent exhaustion and trade mark dilution. Mr Lang is the former National Chair of the Intellectual Property Committee of the Law Council of Australia, a member of the AI Expert Group appointed by the Department of Industry and a member of the Intellectual Property Society of Australia and New Zealand, and the German Australian-Pacific Lawyers' Association. Mr. Lang is listed in Best Lawyers Australia 2023 for his work in Intellectual Property Law.


Odette Gourley, Partner, Corrs Chambers Westgarth
Odette Gourley is a guru in intellectual property law and related areas. In the course of her substantial career, Odette has been in leading trade mark and patent cases including in the High Court: the Gallo Barefoot case (trade marks), the Hassle v Alphapharm (patents) and Peters Ice Cream (restraint of trade) cases; in the Full Federal Court: AstraZeneca on doctor advertising of drugs; in the Federal Court: Winnebago (user principle damages for IP infringement), Johnsons Holiday Skin (substantiation of advertising claims by consumer research), Roche (scheduling scheme for therapeutic products) and Novo v Cipla (patent term extensions). Odette has extensive industry knowledge including in relation to life sciences and pharma, food and beverages, consumer products and a range of other regulated industries. With her knowledge and experience, Odette advises and litigates across the full range of intellectual property law and associated areas including regulatory law (including privacy), administrative law, and competition and consumer law.


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.


Alison Jones, Special Counsel, Corrs Chambers Westgarth
Alison is a Special Counsel at Corrs Chambers Westgarth, Australia’s leading independent law firm and practises in IP, competition and consumer law, entertainment law and related areas. Alison has expertise across a broad range of areas, including IP protection and enforcement, commercialisation (including licensing, distribution and sponsorship), advertising collateral, complaints and disputes, industry ethics, competition and consumer law, anti-bribery, anti-counterfeiting, confidential information, cross-border transactions, contract drafting and due diligence. She advises various leading companies on a range of regulatory issues including food law, cosmetics, life sciences and therapeutic goods regulation, trade, customs, administrative action, investigations, product liability and recalls, privacy and data protection. Alison has undertaken various client secondments in global companies at General Counsel level including a US headquartered pharmaceutical and life sciences company, a leading multinational FMCG company and a major global interactive marketing services company.


Morris Ark, Acting Assistant Director - Trade Agreements and Indigenous Knowledge, IP Australia


Katrina Crooks, Principal, Head of Spruson & Ferguson Lawyers
Katrina is counted amongst Australia’s top IP litigation lawyers, with 25 years’ experience of obtaining successful outcomes for clients. Dual qualified as a lawyer and patent attorney, patent litigation is a core strength. However she has also dealt with hundreds of trade mark, copyright, confidential information and design matters over her career. With her clients’ commercial objectives always at the forefront, Katrina is praised for her legal excellence and strategic, commercial approach to dispute resolution. Katrina has a particular interest in the life sciences sector acting for numerous global leaders in pharmaceuticals, animal health, agri/food tech, nutraceuticals, medical devices and biotechnology. In addition to leading teams representing clients in major Federal Court litigation and appeals, she regularly advises on complex questions of IP infringement and validity, and patent strategy. Katrina also has a successful opposition practice in the Australian Patent Office, often appearing as counsel. Katrina also has a wealth of international experience, allowing her to assist clients with global IP strategy and to work seamlessly in cross jurisdictional teams when required. Katrina maintains a strong interest in intellectual property policy and education. She currently sits on the IP Committee of the Australian Law Council and the Trans-Tasman Committee of the Intellectual Property Society of Australia and New Zealand. She has guest lectured on IP topics at UTS Sydney and regularly writes on IP issues, including as author of the “Patents in New Zealand: A Comparison with Australian Patent Law” chapter of LexisNexis’ Lahore’s Patents, Trade Marks and Related Rights until 2021. Katrina is a also member of the Institute of Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys of Australia, Law Society of New South Wales and AIPPI.