Join leading-lights of intellectual property law for a deep dive into the latest trends, case law and practical strategies shaping intellectual property practice. Explore how to protect Australian brands internationally, navigate ASEAN jurisdictions and leverage key global frameworks. Gain hands-on insights into drafting effective licensing agreements and addressing emerging challenges at the intersection of IP law and digital media, including parodies and dilution. Unpack recent developments in trademark use and enforcement, covering honest concurrent use and strategies to mitigate infringement risks from market imitators. Equip yourself with the legal knowledge and practical tools to advise confidently in a complex, rapidly evolving global environment.

Presenters

Sonia Stewart, Barrister, 5 Wentworth Chambers
Sonia was admitted as a solicitor in 2001 and called to the Bar in 2016. She specialises in intellectual property, regulatory and consumer law, with particular expertise in trade marks, brand protection law and related commercial matters, including competitor and regulatory actions for misleading and deceptive conduct arising from advertising claims. Sonia has significant experience in appearing for and advising highly-regulated and fast-moving consumer goods industries, including tobacco, alcohol, gambling, food & beverages, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, advertising to children and to other vulnerable classes of consumers. She has appeared in large-scale litigation at trial and appellate level and represented a wide variety of national and international clients. Sonia formerly held senior in-house and executive roles as General Manager, Regulatory & Responsible Gambling, at Tabcorp and as Head of Corporate Affairs & Legal for Imperial Tobacco Australia. In private practice, Sonia was also a Senior Associate at Mallesons Stephen Jaques (now, King & Wood Mallesons) in the Intellectual Property and Dispute Resolution practice group.


Donna Short, Partner, Addisons
Donna Short is a Partner in the intellectual property group at Addisons, guiding clients through the entire IP lifecycle from innovation to enforcement. Her practice spans contentious and non-contentious matters, with expertise in trade marks, copyright, IP commercialisation, advertising compliance as well as privacy and data protection. Donna advises clients on trade mark prosecution as well as portfolio management and she regularly acts in proceedings before IP Australia and the Federal Court. Donna is ranked in the Chambers Global and Asia Pacific Guides 2026 for her work in IP and was recognised as a Leading Partner in the area of Intellectual Property by The Legal 500 in 2026.

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 40 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/Notable Practitioner for patent prosecution in Managing Intellectual Property for many years, most recently in 2025. 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.

Michael Frankel AM, Partner, Frankel Lawyers
Michael Frankel BA, LLB, AM, has been practising law for 39 years, in Intellectual Property, Media, Entertainment and public policy Law. He is a partner in Frankel Lawyers, which has a wide range of corporate, arts and media clients, including in Intellectual Property, Film and Television, Music, Media, Publishing, Defamation, Broadcasting, Theatre, Dance, Visual Arts, Literature, Multimedia and New Technology, Merchandising and Ancillary Exploitation, Live Major Events and Festivals, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural rights, Public Policy Issues. Organisations past and present include Federal Attorney-General's Copyright Law Review Committee; Australian Film Commission, Australian Society of Authors; Media and Communications Committee, Australian Director's Guild, Copyright Agency Ltd, Griffin Theatre company, Documentary Foundation, Director of Bicycle NSW, Board of Jewish Education, etc. He has chaired a number of reviews and organisations most recently the UTS Animal Logic Academy - Industry Advisory Board. Michael was awarded Order of Australia AM, for his contribution to Arts, cultural and intellectual property rights, media, law and Indigenous rights. In recognition of his contribution to authors and publishing, Michael was honoured with Life Membership to the Australian Society of Authors.


Vineetha Veerakumar, Principal & Head of Trade Marks, Wrays IP
Vineetha is a senior trade mark practitioner with more than 15 years’ experience advising on strategic brand protection and enforcement. She works with clients to protect and maximise the value of their brands, advising across the full trade mark lifecycle — from clearance and registration through to opposition, non-use actions and enforcement. She manages complex portfolios for leading brands with particular experience in the technology, e-commerce, consumer goods, retail, entertainment and agrifoods sectors. She also advises on product launches and marketing compliance, ensuring legal risk is managed while supporting commercial objectives. Vineetha brings a strong international perspective, having served as IP Counsel in the United States for one of the world’s largest technology and e-commerce companies, where she advised on global brand strategy. Following Wrays joining the Rouse group, she works closely with colleagues across ASEAN as part of a globally integrated IP practice, providing strategic leadership on cross-border trade mark strategy and enforcement for clients operating in multiple markets.

James Lawrence, Partner, Addisons
James Lawrence is a Partner in Addisons' intellectual property team, focusing on IP advisory and litigation. He has been recognised in Best Lawyers and Doyle’s Guide for his expertise in IP and biotechnology law. James is identified as a Leader in IP by the World Intellectual Property Review and serves as the Editor of the Patents chapter in Halsbury's Laws of Australia. His contributions to the field include regular publications and presentations on IP issues.


Kimberley Evans, Executive Lawyer, Trade Mark Attorney (AU, NZ), Pearce IP
Kimberley is Head of Trade Marks at Pearce IP, a boutique firm offering intellectual property specialist lawyers, patent attorneys and trade mark attorneys, with a particular focus on the pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical and life sciences industries for patents and litigation. Having previously worked for one of Australia’s oldest trade mark attorney firm and a top tier international law firm, Kimberley has expertise across all aspects of the trade mark and domain names lifecycles, from adoption and clearance, through to prosecution, enforcement and contentious work, including multinational disputes. Over the past decade, she has supported some the world’s most recognisable brands including media conglomerates, pay television broadcasters, international hotel chains, biotechnology entities, FMCG companies, biofuel manufacturers, pharmaceutical manufacturers, sporting bodies and medical technology entities. With her knowledge and experience from working in-house, in academia and also in private practice, she advises all types of clients, from sole traders to start ups through to multinational conglomerates on all aspects of trade mark registration, management and enforcement. In 2025, The WTR1000 recognised Kimberley as a leading trade mark practitioner for prosecution and strategy.

John Lee, Partner, Gilbert + Tobin
John is a partner in Gilbert + Tobin's Tech + IP group and leads the market leading Patent practice. John’s combination of legal and technical qualifications enables him to practice at the forefront of IP law. John has many years’ experience dealing with all aspects of intellectual property law with a particular focus on patent litigation and trade secrets. He practices across a broad range of industries including information technology, gaming, life sciences, mining and resources. John has lectured extensively at several universities on a range of intellectual property subjects and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. John has a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) and a Bachelor of Science (Biochemistry) and is also a registered Patent Attorney.

Christine Ecob, Partner, Johnson Winter Slattery
Christine is a specialist in the life sciences technology area who advises clients on complex transactions and regulatory requirements including TGA and privacy issues. She advises on a variety of complex transactional matters often including technology and regulatory issues. Christine has extensive experience assisting developers and suppliers of health products and services including medical device manufacturers, pharmaceutical companies and providers of health services. Christine works with clients on research and development agreements, agreements with clinical research organisations, advising on packaging, labelling, mandatory standards, brand protection, advising on advertising of products and the drafting of manufacturing, licensing, distribution and service agreements. Her technology experience includes technology licensing and service agreements for major IT vendors and clients acquiring technology products and services (including Software as a Medical Device).

Irini Lantis, Lawyer, Gilbert + Tobin
Irini is a lawyer in our Intellectual Property group. She advises on cross-jurisdictional patent litigation proceedings before the Federal Court and the High Court of Australia. She also has experience in high profile confidential information cases, where business intangibles have been unlawfully obtained in breach of obligations of confidence. Irini advises clients across all sectors, with a particular interest in e-commerce, gaming, life sciences, mining and resources. Irini is recognised as a Rising Star for 2021-23 by IP STARS.

Helen Macpherson, Executive Lawyer (Head of Litigation – Australia), Pearce IP
Helen has over 25 years’ experience as an intellectual property specialist and is recognised as an industry leader. Helen advises on all forms of intellectual property including patents, plant breeder’s rights, trade marks, copyright and confidential information. Throughout her career, Helen has maintained a strong focus on high-value patent mandates involving complex technologies. In these mandates, Helen has been able to draw upon her technical training in biochemistry and molecular biology, as well as her ability to up-skill swiftly in relation to diverse technologies. Helen’s patent work has encompassed the technical fields of inorganic, organic, physical and process chemistry, biochemistry, biotechnology (including genetics, molecular biology and virology) and physics. Helen also has extensive experience advising clients on consumer law issues and disputes, specifically in the context of misleading and deceptive conduct disputes between competitors and with regulators and industry bodies regarding promotional campaigns. These consumer law issues include assisting clients in relation to compliance with the Food Standards Code Australia and New Zealand (FSANZ), such as labelling and packaging requirements. Helen’s clients praise her for her exceptional intelligence and calm demeanour.