Michael has a particular interest in complex prosecutions, trade mark oppositions and removal proceedings.  He also provides strategic advice for IP protection and management including in relation to domain names, copyright and the copyright/designs overlap.  His broad IP knowledge base and experience makes him a valuable asset when working with clients to ensure all round management of their trade mark portfolio.  He is known for his reliability and technical capabilities in working alongside his clients to achieve their business strategy.

His previous experience was in the provision of strategic advice in relation to the commercialisation, licensing and transfer of intellectual property.   He also has wide-ranging litigation experience which has included acting for clients in trade mark, copyright (particularly music copyright), patent and design infringement disputes, as well as in actions for passing off, breaches of confidence, and breaches of the consumer protection legislation. He has also acted in several cross-jurisdictional domain name disputes (including under the Uniform Domain-Name Resolution Policy).

He has previously worked in the Melbourne office of a major international law firm and as special counsel at one of Adelaide’s premier firms. He has a research interest in copyright law and is currently pursuing doctoral studies in this area at The University of Adelaide.

Michael is the past recipient of Australian and German government (DAAD) postgraduate research scholarships, the D.R. Stranks Travelling Fellowship (The University of Adelaide) and the major prizes for the Honours Degree of Bachelor of Laws.  He has also received prizes for the patent law and trade mark practices subjects completed as part of the Master of Intellectual Property Law (The University of Melbourne).

A lawyer and registered Australian and New Zealand trade marks attorney, Michael is fluent in German, both spoken and written. He is also part of our trade marks group ranked Tier 1 for trade mark prosecution by the well respected Managing Intellectual Property IP Stars survey.