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
Julie Robb is a specialist IP and commercial lawyer and an accredited mediator. She has advised and represented individuals, not-for-profits and corporations for over 35 years – first at a top tier national firm, then as Executive Director of the Arts Law Centre of Australia and for 18 years as partner and head of the disputes practice at a boutique IP and media firm in Sydney. Julie has litigated IP disputes in the Federal and State Courts, including for multinational clients in the enforcement of their registered shape and colour trade marks. A member of the Law Society of NSW Litigation Law and Practice Committee for 17 years until 2023, she is currently Deputy Chair of its ADR Committee.


Sean McManis, Lawyer and Trade Mark Attorney
After 24 years at Shelston IP, where he was head of the trade marks team, Sean spent 3 years as principal at Davies Collison Cave. 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.


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
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, Policy Officer, Trade Agreements and Indigenous Knowledge, IP Australia
Morris is a Policy Officer in the Trade Agreements and Indigenous Knowledge team at IP Australia. The team is responsible for leading IP Australia’s policy development for select issues such as Indigenous Knowledge. This includes considering how the IP system can better support Australia’s First Nations Peoples to benefit from their Indigenous knowledge and culture. Morris supported the Australian delegation at the Diplomatic Conference to conclude the WIPO Treaty on Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources and Associated Traditional Knowledge in May 2024. Morris also works on international and trade-related IP topics. Morris was a patent examiner in the Medical Devices section at IP Australia and has a PhD in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Sydney.


Katrina Crooks, Principal, Head of Spruson & Ferguson Lawyers
With over 25 years’ experience, Katrina is a leading IP litigator, recognised in publications such as MIP Stars, IAM Patent 1000, Best Lawyers in Australia™ and Doyles Guide New South Wales.  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.  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 patent strategy and has a successful opposition practice in the Australian Patent Office, often appearing as counsel. Katrina also has a wealth of international experience, having obtained a Master of Law from the University of Cambridge, and practising in Europe for many years. Katrina maintains a strong interest in intellectual property policy and education. She currently sits on the IP Committee of the Australian Law Council and is the Treasurer and Executive member 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.


Odette Gourley, Partner, Corrs
Odette Gourley is a senior partner and market leading lawyer 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: Gallo Barefoot (trade marks), Hassle v Alphapharm (patents) and Peters Ice Cream (restraint of trade); in the Federal Court: AstraZeneca (doctor advertising of drugs); Winnebago (user principle damages for IP infringement), Johnsons Holiday Skin (substantiation of advertising claims by consumer research), Roche (scheduling scheme for therapeutic products), Novo v Cipla and Otsuka v Sun Pharma (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.