Presenters

Mark Summerfield, IP and Technology Consultant, Patentology
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.


Paul Warden-Hutton, Senior Partner, Oxygene IP
A senior partner of the Oxygen IP, Paul holds a BBiomedSc majoring in Chemistry and Biochemistry. His BBiomedSc(Hons) year was his introduction to applied research, where he used biophysical and biological tools to investigate the causative gene of hereditary sex-linked anaemia in mice. Paul continued his applied research in the completion of a PhD in biophysics in which he performed spectroscopic, computational and informatic studies of the prion protein. In 2003, Paul started in the intellectual property profession when he joined a Japanese patent attorney firm in Osaka. Paul largely provided advice to non-Japanese IP owners in relation to Japanese patent law and its landscape. With his physics, computational and biochemistry backgrounds, Paul worked in both the firm’s information technology and life sciences and teams. Paul is a registered trans-Tasman patent attorney and trade mark attorney with a Masters in Intellectual Property Law. He entered the profession in Australia in 2005. Paul’s practice includes drafting, prosecution and litigation of engineering, spectroscopic, medical imaging, sensor-technologies, clean technology, mechanical, computer software, biophysical and material science matters before IP Australia and IPONZ. He has conducted several patent proceedings before the Federal Court of Australia. With his background in applied research, Paul’s work covers most technology areas, including pneumatics, medical devices, chemical processing, anaesthesia/sleep monitoring devices, safety devices, building materials and business methods. Paul also enjoys the gymnastics of trade marks and designs and handles matters before both IP Australia and the IPONZ. Paul is a Fellow of The Institute of Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys of Australia, a Member of the Asian Patent Attorney Association, The Intellectual Property Society of Australia and New Zealand and The Royal Australian Chemical Institute. Having spent over two years in Japan, Paul has a working competency in Japanese.