In addition to regular patent attorney work, Justin also has experience in managing the firm’s overseas filings department, responsible for establishing foreign patent applications for local clients. He completed Engineering and Science degrees at the University of Melbourne where he was awarded a Dean of Engineering Scholarship. In the final year of his Engineering degree, Justin’s research and design projects were in the fields of energy conservation and utilisation and finite element analysis. In the Science faculty, he undertook computer science and a major in applied and industrial mathematics.

Justin has been a regular guest lecturer on the topic of intellectual property to engineering students at RMIT University, Melbourne and he is a Senior Fellow in the Faculty of Law at the University of Melbourne where he was the course coordinator for the subject “Interpretation & Validity of Patent Specifications” which is a final subject taken by candidates seeking to qualify as an Australian patent attorney. He has also participated for a number of years as a judge in the Engineers Australia Excellence Awards.

Justin has particular expertise in the areas of mechanical inventions, mining, clean technologies (especially hydrogen-related green technologies), and construction, with a successful track record of his cases right through to patent enforcement in the Full Federal Court of Australia and to validity upheld in oral proceedings conducted by the opposition division of the European Patent Office.

He also has experience in the fields of automotive and marine engineering, drafting and prosecuting patent applications in Australia and overseas for an extensive range of devices/processes, including a multi-speed automatic automotive transmission having adaptive control strategies, a double clutch transmission (DCT), an energy-efficient torque converter, conversions for providing wheelchair access to vehicles, vehicle stabilising and levelling systems, a hybrid marine drive, a braking system with improved pad wear characteristics and an improved horizontally opposed internal combustion engine.

Justin leads a team of skilled attorneys which obtains, enforces and advises on registered design rights in a range of areas including luggage, shoes, food packaging, adhesive containers and dispensers, swimwear, sport safety equipment, kitchen appliances, advertising trailers, vehicle body panels, electric vehicle components, light housings, plant pots, building brackets, underground water storage systems and tyre tread patterns.

In the area of medical devices, Justin has handled matters relating to mechanical retractors for upper body surgery, plastic surgery implements, and surgical retrieval devices. Within the dental field he has acted for clients in the areas of dental retaining appliances, devices for preventing airway obstruction during sleep, and hygiene shields for preventing cross contamination.