AIPPI Sydney 2017: The IPKat in Australia

After a breezy flight to Sydney via Singapore, the AmeriKat slinked off the plane, stretched and blinked into the fresh Australian sunshine laced with jasmine - the dark rain of London now thousands of miles away. Why is she so far away from her usual stomping grounds? Well, because it is the time of year when the great, the good and the glitterati of the intellectual property world come together to debate hot topics global IP practice, vote on key principles and reunite with colleagues and friends. As previously posted, this year's Congress has an incredible lineup (see here).

The AmeriKat has been a bit under the radar recently because (besides her day job) she has been busily preparing for the first panel session on Sunday morning she and fellow trade secrets enthusiast, Mark Ridgway are co-moderating.  For a taste of the session, watch the movie inspired trailer here.  The panel includes a blockbuster line up of panelists by video and in person including Justice Yates (Federal Court of Australia), Judge Zigann (Presiding Judge of Regional Court in Munich), Mr Justice Arnold, Mr Justice Carr and Judge Jim Kleinberg (ret.) 

For this reason, and because this year's Congress program is too extensive and interesting to cover all single-highhandedly, the AmeriKat is relying on local Australian guest Kats to help update readers on what is happening in Sydney.  The AusKat Team you will be hearing from is as follows:

Tom Reid is a senior lawyer at Accenture Australia, based in Melbourne, where he focuses on the negotiation of IT and outsourcing contracts with clients in Accenture’s resources industry practice. Tom was formerly at Allens in Melbourne, and at Kirkland & Ellis LLP in San Francisco, and is admitted to practice in both Victoria and California. Tom has been a member of the International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property since 2004, and has served as a committee member and treasurer of the Australian national group.

Clare Cunliffe is a barrister specialising in intellectual property. She has extensive experience in patent litigation (including pharmaceutical patent injunctions), as well as patent and trade mark oppositions, trade mark litigation, and copyright litigation. Before being called to the bar in 2013, Clare worked as a solicitor in Australia and the United Kingdom. Clare authored several chapters of Halsbury’s Laws of Australia on patents and is currently writing an annotated version of the Patents Act 1990 (Cth) for Lexis-Nexis. Clare has been listed in in Doyle's Guide to Leading Intellectual Property Junior Counsel – Australia (2017) as a leading junior counsel and in Doyle's Guide to Leading Intellectual Property Barristers – Victoria (2017) as a preeminent junior counsel. Fun Fact: Clare was the proud winner of a gas top cooker after appearing on one of Australia's longest running game shows, Sale of the Century (a student at the time, she lacked only a kitchen, a gas pipe to connect the cooker to, and any semblance of cooking skills).

James Ellsmore is a senior associate with more than 8 years’ experience with King & Wood Mallesons’ Intellectual Property team in Sydney. James advises clients on intellectual property disputes, with a particular focus on patent litigation. He has litigated disputes in the Australian Patent Office, the Federal Court of Australia and the High Court of Australia involving enantiomers, ophthalmic medical devices, extended release drug formulations, sleep apnoea devices, LEDs and semiconductors, and telecommunications technologies. James has duel undergraduate degrees in science (biotechnology) and law, as well as a Master of Laws focused on intellectual property and dispute resolution. As a very recent first-time father, James’ interests now include perfecting the 2am nappy change as quickly as possible, learning when to separate the mustard stained towels from the baby clothes when doing the washing and enjoying soggy Weetbix and cold coffee for lunch. His other interests – trail running and fantasy football – are now distant memories but he wouldn’t change anything for the joys of fatherhood!

Jacqueline Plunkett will also be joining the team.  Jacqueline is an IP lawyer with experience in commercial law, government, trade and policy.  She has a particular focus on trade marks (oppositions, revocation, speciality marks in Wine/Plant/Madrid, contrary to law, related regulatory reviews), designs, copyright, consumer law and a particular understanding of how IP fits into businesses seeking to export. Jacqueline was previously the Assistant Director of Trade & Policy Projects at IP Australia and a former trade mark examiner.

Warwick Rothnie is a barrister practising in all aspects of intellectual property law; appearing mainly in the federal courts and before IP Australia. He is a contributing author to Lahore, Lindgren and Rothnie, Copyright and Designs and, since 2013, the specialist contributor to Lahore’s Patents, Trade Marks and Related Rights on patent validity. Warwick teaches patents in the postgraduate program at the University of Melbourne and Designs at Monash University. He is one of WIPO’s UDRP panelists and blogs at http://ipwars.com/. His memberships include the Law Council of Australia’s Intellectual Property Committee, IPSANZ, AIPPI Australia and the Copyright Society of Australia.

The  AmeriKat is thrilled and thankful to have such a fantastic team in place to help keep our IPKat readers across the globe updated.   So stay tuned into your e-mail inbox over the next several days.