About
Thomas is an Australian registered patent and trade mark attorney. He holds a BSc, LLB (Hons), and LLM, and has qualified as a solicitor and barrister. He has acted for a broad base of clients ranging from large multi-national corporations to start-ups. Thomas has considerable experience in patent drafting and prosecution, patent opposition matters and in preparing and prosecuting trademark applications. Thomas has expertise in a diverse array of technologies including in the fields of telecommunications, computing and medical devices.
Thomas has also facilitated the planning and deployment of industry-leading e-filing systems at Golja Haines & Friend, allowing applicants to file attorney-certified procedural IP documents with IP Australia in real-time. He has also recently led the successful commercialisation of an IT company relating to attorney services.
Prior to joining the patent attorney profession, Thomas worked as a developer for Microsoft Corporation, developing a component of the 'Microsoft Office' software suite. He has also previously worked on Nikon's digital camera products, as well as having worked for a prominent digital asset management company in London.
Specialties: Patent law, licensing negotiation, software development, trade mark prosecution, patent litigation support, patent opposition.
Work history
Patent & Trademark Attorney
Golja Haines & Friend
March 2008 – Present (6 years 7 months)
Director
Headwise Systems
August 2009 – Present (5 years 2 months)
IP Australia Business Relations Committee
The Institute of Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys of Australia
October 2012 – Present (2 years)
Microsoft CorporationSoftware
Engineer
Microsoft Corporation
July 2006 – October 2008 (2 years 4 months)
Responsible for software development relating to the Microsoft Expressions Media product included in the MS Office suite.
Patent and Trade Marks Attorney
Wray & Associates
April 2005 – February 2008 (2 years 11 months)
Software Engineer
iView Multimedia Ltd.
March 2002 – July 2006 (4 years 5 months)
Education and qualifications
University of Melbourne
Master of Laws, Intellectual Property
2005 – 2009
Notre Dame University
Laws (Hons)
2003 – 2006
Curtin University of Technology
Science, Computing
February 1997 – November 2001
Publications
Patenting Legal Strategies: Does the Utility Justify the Ends?
62 IP Forum, 24
2005
Case Note: Grant v Commissioner of Patents [2005] FCA 1100
63 IP Forum, 55
2005
Plant Breeders Rights
9 Legal Issues in Business, 3
2007
Are Australian patentees sufficiently motivated?
19 Australian IP Journal, 1
2008
