“In my final year at University I decided against pursuing further academic research and in a dusty basement room at Bristol University I came across a slim booklet entitled “The Career of a Patent Agent”. I thought that would be a career that would suit my analytical skills. And I was right. You never know what invention you’ll handle next, and meeting inventors and defining their inventions is intellectually stimulating.”

I AM: a patient person and like to think deeply about things

Title: Principal, Patent and Trade Marks Attorney, registered UK Patent Agent

Qualifications: Bachelor of Science (Honours).

I worked in the UK for a leading provincial firm of patent attorneys from 1980-1989 drafting, filing and prosecuting patent applications for mechanical and electrical inventions, including automotive products and gaming machines.

I guess you could say that I have extensive experience in patent attorney firms of different sizes in different countries. I moved to Australia in 1989 to join a boutique firm of Australian Patent Attorneys. Following a merger in 1991 with a similar sized firm, I became a partner in 1995 and was part of a rapidly growing firm in the 1990s. Subsequently I joined a patent attorney group of a top tier law firm as a result of a further merger in 2000. I joined Watermark as a Principal in 2004.

I specialise in high level patent work, such as oppositions, infringement advice, in mechanical and electrical fields, and in advising clients in managing their intellectual assets, particularly those with large international IP portfolios. My particular technology fields of interest include security printing, gaming technology, solar energy and medical devices.