Presenters

Joanna Lawrence, Partner, Mills Oakley
Joanna Lawrence is a leading intellectual property lawyer and Partner at Mills Oakley, advising clients on trade marks, brand protection, commercialisation and IP disputes. She acts for businesses across a broad range of industries on the protection and enforcement of valuable intellectual property assets, with particular expertise in contentious and non-contentious trade mark matters. Joanna is recognised in Doyle’s Guide for Contentious Intellectual Property and is ranked in the prestigious World Trademark Review 1000 Guide for both Prosecution & Strategy and Enforcement & Litigation.


Dr Steven Stern CTA FIPTA ICC, Barrister-at-Law, Svenson Barristers and Adjunct Professor, Victoria Law School, Victoria University
Dr Steven Stern FIPTA CTA ICC BEc LLB (Mon) LLM PhD (Melb), a former Mallesons' Senior Associate, practises at the Victorian Bar specialising in litigation and other disputes relating to trade marks, patents, copyright and other intellectual property. Dr Stern is a Fellow of The Institute of Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys of Australia. He is a Registered Trade Mark Attorney. From 2017 to 2023 Dr Stern was the Honorary Secretary of List S Svenson Barristers. Dr Stern presently is the Honorary Secretary of the Victorian Bar Council's Library Committee. He is an Adjunct Professor in the Victoria Law School and a Research Associate in the Institute of Sustainable Industries and Livable Cities at Victoria University; and a Supervising Practitioner in the Melbourne Law School Tax Clinic at The University of Melbourne. As Corporation Secretary/Principal Legal Officer at the Australian Wool Corporation, Dr Stern oversaw the patent and trade mark activities of what was for many decades Australia’s largest export industry. Subsequently, as University Secretary/University General Counsel at Victoria University, Dr Stern oversaw the patent and trade mark activities of an instittution which has developed a globally recognised excellence in the novel ways it undertakes scholarship, pure and applied research, invention, innovation, education and consultancy of international standing.