Notwithstanding the losses of patent attorneys Peter Franke and Adam Hyland at the end of 2009 and Simon Ellis in March 2010, Watermark holds its ground in the patent and trade mark prosecution arenas. The firm made several notable hires, namely Lakshmi Rajagopalan from Griffith Hack and Rob McMaster, previously with Phillips Ormonde Fitzpatrick, and kept active with patent drafting and providing strategic advice to clients.
In one standout achievement in the last year, Robynne Sanders, Carolyn Harris and Grant Jacobsen represented BASF in a patent infringement case directed at biodegradable shopping bags. The alleged infringers, wholesalers of plastic bags, eventually reached settlement with the client, who obtained an exclusive monopoly on biodegradable plastic bags in the Australian market.
Despite a young contentious practice that started in 2006, the team has taken on an impressive volume of contentious matters, a number of which settled. A client who has used the firm for six years on IP audits, searches and filings, among other things, commends Roger Green and Ken Simpson, whose background lies in physics and bioinformatics: "They not only offer the normal advice of an IP firm, they actually improve our IP applications on a scientific level."
"This firm is professional and reactive, providing effective direction and advice," says one trade mark client. "Watermark has a good network of local associates and good experience dealing with various jurisdictions. Amanda Jones is very professional and pugnacious. She is clear when explaining complicated cases."