About

Nicholas Weston is a small but mighty Australian law firm delivering trade marks and other commercial legal services to clients worldwide in our core sectors of disputes, technology and brands.

The firm is ranked for Trade Mark Prosecution and Trade Mark Contentious by the Managing Intellectual Property World IP Survey 2008. According to the IP Handbook published by Managing IP magazine, "clients noted the thoroughness of the firm's paperwork and "attention to detail"".

Our professionals are dual qualified as lawyers and registered trade marks attorneys. We claim practical implementation of thought leadership. The firm is located on Collins Street, Melbourne in the historic Assembly Hall. The firm’s main website can be found here. The firm’s Trade Marks Microsite can be found here.

The Australian Trade Marks Law Blog is designed to communicate with U.S. law firms and others seeking a reliable source of information and commentary on Australian Trade Marks. The platypus is adopted as our masthead because the platypus - like Australian Trade Marks Law (and the Australian version of English) - can seem odd at first encounter. It is efficiently adapted to its environment. It looks like you could pat it. But it has a venomous spur on its hind legs that can cause excruciating pain. Nicholas Weston publishes the Australian Trade Mark Law Blog as a useful resource.

Our contributors

Professor Mark Davison

Professor Mark Davison is Associate Dean (Undergraduate Studies) at Australia’s Monash University, and the author of several major works relating to intellectual property and competition law. He has written The Legal Protection of Databases, a book published in the intellectual property series of Cambridge University Press and is the co-author of the third edition of Shanahan’s Australian Law of Trade Mark and Passing Off, the leading reference work on Australian trade mark law. He is also a co-author of the new Australian Intellectual Property Law, published by Cambridge University Press. He has also published two casebooks dealing with competition law and aspects of consumer protection. In addition to his doctorate on sui generis protection of databases, he has a diploma in Indonesian language and studies and he is the winner of three Australian Research Council large grants.

Besides teaching Contract Law, Intellectual Property, Trade Marks and Commercial Designations and Copyright in the postgraduate and undergraduate courses at Monash, he has taught in various projects in Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia.

Qualifications

LLB(Hons), Diploma of Legal Practice, LLM, Diploma of Languages (Indonesian), PhD

Areas of Expertise

  • Intellectual Property
  • Trade Practices
  • Contract
  • Indonesian and Chinese Intellectual Property

You can read more about Mark's background here. Mark can be contacted by clicking here.

The Hon.Neil Brown, QC

The Hon. Neil Brown, QC is a member of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) Domain Name Panel and the WIPO Arbitration Centre's List of Neutrals. Prior to these appointments, Neil had a long and distinguished career in Government and the law. He has been actively involved in Australian politics as a Minister, Shadow Minister, legislator and as a delegate to the United Nations and other international organisations.

Neil Brown QC has also been appointed to the Panel of Conciliators at the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) at Washington, USA.

Amongst other positions, Neil has served as:

  • Member of Federal Parliament; Commonwealth of Australia, 1969-91;
  • Shadow Minister for Communications, 1990-91;
  • Shadow Attorney-General, 1988-90;
  • Shadow Minister for Justice, 1988-90;
  • Shadow Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations, 1985-87;
  • Deputy Leader of the Opposition, 1985-87;
  • Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs, 1985-87;
  • Minister for Business and Consumer Affairs, Australian Government, 1982;
  • Minister for Communications and Minister Assisting the Attorney-General, 1982-83;
  • Minister for Employment and Youth Affairs, 1981-82;

In recent years he has also conducted two significant inquiries for the Commonwealth Government. You can read more about Neil’s background here. Neil can be contacted by clicking here.

Nick Weston

Nick Weston is a lawyer with Nicholas Weston Lawyers & Trade Marks Attorneys. He has strong experience in several practice areas with a focus on commercial law and contracts. Nick Weston is also a registered Trade Marks Attorney.

Nick advises on joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions, corporations and not-for-profits, ICT, trade mark licensing & protection, reputation and brand management, trade practices compliance, sales and distribution, property, and commercial litigation.

From 1983, Nick was a professional rower, a member of the Australian Rowing Team in 1989 and a Finallist in the LW4- at the World Rowing Championships, in Bled, Yugoslavia.

Before forming Nicholas Weston, Nick worked progressively as a solicitor, trade marks attorney and partner at another Collins Street, Melbourne commercial law firm.

Areas Of Experience

  • Trade Marks
  • Commercial Litigation
  • Commercial law
  • Corporations law
  • Real Estate

Professional & Community Involvement

  • Director, Karma Currency Foundation Limited
  • Member, International Trademarks Association (INTA)
  • Member, Australia China Business Council
  • Member, Litigation Section of The Law Institute of Victoria:
  • Member, Licensing Executives Society of Australia and New Zealand (LESANZ)
  • Member, Australian Corporate Lawyers Association (ACLA)
  • Member, Melbourne Cricket Club;

Articles, Publications & Lectures

  • "Groundless Threats of Trade Mark Infringement Proceedings – How to Avoid Getting Court" 11 AIPJ 151 (first writer) (Australian Intellectual Property Journal August 2000)
  • "Copyright & Virtual Reality – a Band-Aid on the Bleeding Edge" 8 AIPJ 71 (Australian Intellectual Property Journal May 1997)
  • "Intellectual Property Protection Under the Australia – United States Free Trade Agreement" – paper delivered at IIR Commercialising Intellectual Property Conference, 23rd to 25th August 2004, Eden on the Park, Melbourne.
  • "Contracts & IP – Seven Steps to IP Perfection" - paper delivered at IIR Advanced Contract Law Conference, 8th to 10th December 2004, The Duxton Hotel, Melbourne.

Education

  • Qualified & Registered as a Trade Marks Attorney 2000
  • LL.B., University of London/University of Tasmania, 1996
  • B.Ec., La Trobe University, 1991

Nick can be contacted by clicking here.

Lea Lewin

Lea Lewin is a lawyer and trade marks practitioner with Nicholas Weston Lawyers & Trade Marks Attorneys. Lea is also a registered Patent and Trade Marks Attorney.

Lea completed a Bachelor of Science (Honours) and a Bachelor of Law at Monash University in 1999. During her studies she focused on forensic and intellectual property topics and completed a thesis based on the statistical implications of DNA evidence.

In 2000, Lea commenced work with a boutique intellectual property firm in Sydney where she trained as a patent and trade marks attorney. Lea practised predominantly in patent matters relating to molecular biology, pharmaceuticals, food technology and health care products. Lea gained experience drafting patent specifications, prosecuting Australian and foreign patent applications, providing advice on patent validity and infringement and handling opposition proceedings. During this time, Lea also completed the College of Law and became admitted as a legal practitioner in NSW.

Lea returned to Melbourne in 2003 and joined Freehills Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys. At Freehills, Lea continued to practice in the patents area gaining further experience in patent prosecution, right-to-market searches and patent litigation. She also completed a year of post-graduate study in the area of organic chemistry and became admitted as a legal practitioner in Victoria.

Since joining Nicholas Weston, Lea has continued to expand her intellectual property practice as well as gained experience in a range of commercial matters.

Professional & Community Involvement

  • Member, Institute of Patent and Trade Marks Attorneys (IPTA)
  • Member, Intellectual Property Society of Australia and New Zealand (IPSANZ)
  • Member, Licensing Executives Society of Australia and New Zealand (LESANZ)
  • Member, Law Institute of Victoria

Education

  • Qualified & Registered as Patent and Trade Marks Attorney 2003
  • LLB., Monash University 1999
  • BSc (Hon)., Monash University 1997

Lea can be contacted by clicking here.