Tim specialises in intellectual property disputes and advisory work, with particular expertise in trade mark, copyright, designs, patent and confidential information matters. He is recognised for providing clear, commercial advice in high-stakes disputes and for guiding clients through technically complex issues with a pragmatic and strategic approach.

He regularly acts for Australian and international clients in Federal Court and appellate litigation, opposition proceedings before IP Australia and in multi-jurisdictional disputes. He often advises on sensitive and high-value matters involving novel legal issues and significant commercial risk.

Tim also has a market‑leading practice advising on the commercialisation and strategic management of intellectual property portfolios, including complex collaboration, technology transfer and cross‑border licensing arrangements, across a diverse client base ranging from start-ups and SMEs to multinational organisations.

In addition to his intellectual property practice, Tim has substantial experience advising on consumer law, advertising and marketing issues, including misleading and deceptive conduct, comparative advertising and regulatory issues. He also advises on complex contractual and commercial disputes across a range of industries.

His clients include leading companies in the pharmaceutical, medical device, manufacturing, technology, telecommunications and FMCG sectors, as well as universities, research institutes, government bodies and not-for-profit organisations.

He has also worked as senior in-house counsel at a government agency and on secondment to an Australian mining company, where he advised on major commercial, intellectual property and governance matters.

Selected matters

• Acting for ZTE Corporation, a Chinese telecommunications company, in Federal Court patent infringement and revocation proceedings involving standards-essential patents
• Acting for Jacobs Douwe Egberts, a leading pure-play coffee company, in trade mark infringement and revocation proceedings relating to a shape trade mark
• Acting for TiVo, a major US consumer electronics and technology company, in successful Federal Court and Full Federal Court trade mark proceedings and related contempt proceedings
• Acting for AMES Australasia, the owner of many household brands including Cyclone®, in design infringement and revocation proceedings
• Acting for Merck KGaA in a trade mark infringement and breach of contract (under German law) claim against Merck Sharpe & Dohme
• Acting for Apotex in the patent infringement and revocation trial and appeal in the Federal Court, in the long-running dispute over Clopidogrel
• Advising one of the world’s leading cancer research, education and treatment institutes on the licensing of emerging CAR-T cell therapeutics to a large multi-national pharmaceutical company
• Advising an Australian medical device company on the commercialisation of its state-of-the-art human diagnostic platform technology for testing for and diagnosing COVID-19 with a global medical device and healthcare company
• Advising a global top-five assisted reproductive service provider on the structuring and sale of its artificial intelligence technology used to identify and select the most viable embryos to a Swedish IVF technology company
• Advising a global brand on a multi-billion dollar restructuring of the ownership of its intellectual property portfolio
• Advising one of Australia’s largest universities on a long-standing licence agreement with a global pharmaceutical company regarding the payment of ongoing royalties after patent expiration
• Advising global pharmaceutical companies on the restructuring of existing worldwide patent licensing arrangements in anticipation of Australian patent litigation

Selected publications & thought leadership

• Sessional Lecturer, Patent Licensing and Technology Transfer, Master of Laws Program, Melbourne Law School, The University of Melbourne
• Contributing author to the “Patents” section of “The Laws of Australia”, 2023, Thomson Reuters
• Contributing author to “Trade Secrets Throughout the World”, 2022-25 ed, Thomson Reuters
• Co-author of Australian chapter of “Licences and Insolvency: A Practical Guide to the Effects of “Insolvency on IP Licence Agreements”, 2014, Global Law and Business
• Contributor to Australian chapter of “International Licensing” loose-leaf service, published for the Center for International Legal Studies by BNA International Inc., 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013