Intellectual Property & Technology

Intellectual property is often one of the most valuable assets a business owns. Our team assists clients in identifying, protecting, and managing intellectual property rights, including trade marks, copyrights, patents, designs, confidential information, and trade secrets. We provide practical advice to help ensure your intellectual property remains protected and commercially valuable.

A strong brand is a critical business asset. We assist clients with trade mark clearance searches, registration, portfolio management, enforcement, and infringement matters. Whether you are launching a new business, expanding into new markets, or protecting an established brand, we provide strategic advice to help safeguard your reputation and market position.

Technology plays an increasingly important role in business operations. Our lawyers advise on a wide range of technology-related matters, including software licensing, software development agreements, technology procurement, SaaS arrangements, platform terms and conditions, digital service agreements, technology outsourcing arrangements, and other technology transactions. We help businesses navigate complex technology projects and commercial arrangements while managing legal and operational risk.

Innovation often begins with research, collaboration, and the development of new ideas, technologies, and intellectual property. Our team assists businesses, universities, research institutions, Co-operative Research Centres (CRCs), investors, and industry partners to establish strong legal frameworks that support research, development, and commercialisation activities.

We advise on a broad range of research and innovation matters, including research agreements, collaboration agreements, project agreements, joint ventures, consortium agreements, industry partnership agreements, funding arrangements, and research and development initiatives. We work closely with clients to clearly define ownership, use, protection, and commercialisation rights relating to intellectual property developed through collaborative projects and research programs.

Our lawyers also assist with the commercialisation and utilisation of intellectual property, including licensing, assignments, technology transfer arrangements, spin-outs, commercial partnerships, and cross-border commercialisation strategies. We provide practical advice on managing intellectual property throughout its lifecycle, helping clients maximise value while protecting their commercial interests.

Where grant funding forms part of a project, we can assist organisations in navigating funding arrangements and managing the legal and contractual obligations associated with government, industry, university, and research grants.

As organisations collect and use increasing volumes of personal and commercial information, compliance with privacy obligations and effective data governance have become increasingly important. We advise clients on privacy laws, data governance frameworks, privacy policies, consent requirements, data handling practices, and data breach response strategies.

Our practical advice helps businesses meet their regulatory obligations, manage risk, and establish robust processes that support compliance while enabling innovation and growth.

Cybersecurity is no longer solely an IT issue; it is a critical business, governance, and legal risk. We assist organisations to identify, assess, and manage cybersecurity risks through tailored governance frameworks, policies, incident response planning, vendor risk management, and compliance strategies.

Our team works closely with boards, directors, business owners, and executive leaders to develop practical risk management strategies that protect business-critical information, strengthen organisational resilience, and support long-term business objectives. We help organisations understand their legal and governance responsibilities in relation to cybersecurity and data protection, including the potential legal, financial, regulatory, and reputational consequences of failing to implement appropriate security measures.

As cyber threats continue to evolve, we provide practical guidance on establishing appropriate safeguards, managing cyber incidents, responding to data breaches, and embedding cybersecurity into broader business risk management frameworks.

Advancements in artificial intelligence and emerging technologies present significant opportunities, as well as unique legal and regulatory challenges. Our team provides guidance on the development, procurement, implementation, and use of AI technologies, including governance, risk management, intellectual property ownership, privacy considerations, and regulatory compliance.

We advise on AI governance frameworks, AI procurement and deployment, contractual risk allocation, intellectual property ownership, transparency and accountability obligations, and responsible AI practices. Our practical advice helps organisations embrace innovation while managing legal, ethical, and regulatory risks.

Operating online presents a range of legal considerations. We assist businesses with website terms and conditions, online sales terms, marketplace arrangements, consumer law compliance, digital marketing practices, electronic contracting, and online platform governance. Our advice helps ensure your online operations are legally compliant and commercially effective.

When disputes arise, timely and strategic advice is essential. Our team assists clients with intellectual property infringement claims, trade mark disputes, copyright matters, confidential information breaches, domain name disputes, and technology-related contractual disputes. As a full-service law firm, we work closely with our dispute resolution team to protect and enforce our clients' rights when required.

Technology investments often involve complex commercial arrangements. We advise businesses on negotiating, drafting, and reviewing technology procurement contracts, vendor agreements, cloud services arrangements, managed services agreements, technology outsourcing matters, and other technology-related commercial contracts. Our practical approach helps minimise risk while supporting long-term business objectives.