"I think the depth of knowledge of the law is second to none," says a litigation client of Gilbert + Tobin. "Their ability to communicate that knowledge in terms of asking for opinion by email or phone is just excellent. Michael Williams is superb and Rebecca Dunn is excellent."
Despite the losses of Anthony Muratore and Lisa Taliadoros to Jones Day in January 2010, which has affected the firm's patent litigation practice, the outfit stays strong in the IT and tech space and sits comfortably in tier one for its renowned copyright practice.
Powered with three partners and 35 lawyers, the IP team is consistently engaged in the nation's most newsworthy cases. Among the brand's well-known clients are Google, Motion Picture Association, Red Bull, Aristocrat Technologies and Turner Broadcasting.
In a test case for online advertising practices, senior litigator Colleen Platford and her team are advising Google, which was sued by the country's trade regulator, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, over keyword advertising. The plaintiff alleged certain aspects of Google's sponsored links on the search engine's Adwords system to be misleading and deceptive.
One of the most important cases to come out of Australia this past year was the battle between Roadshow Films and iiNet, an internet service provider (ISP). Following the first instance decision that found the ISP was not liable for copyright infringement by allowing users to download content through BitTorrent, Williams and his team filed an appeal in the Full Federal Court of Australia, representing the motion pictures companies.
Litigator Siabon Seet has kept busy with a wide range of ongoing matters. Seet and her team are helping Primary Health Care in the Federal Court to prevent the Australian General Practitioners Network from registering the trade mark Primary Health Care.
Experts at domain name conflicts and brand protection, Lisa Lennon and her team act for such clients as Diners Club and Servcorp in recovery of domain names and trade mark enforcement in light of online misuse. "I think they have a great understanding of our industry and business as well as a breadth of experience in trade marks," says a client in the broadcasting services industry. "Lisa Lennon is extremely knowledgeable and proactive in her approach."