Overview

Duncan is a specialist intellectual property lawyer. He has extensive IP litigation expertise with 15 years in practice.

Duncan’s practice focuses on patent disputes, including in the mining/energy, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device, information technology, financial services, and consumer goods sectors.

He is an expert litigator, conducting major complex IP litigation in the Federal Court of Australia and High Court of Australia. Significant cases in which Duncan has played a leading role include patent litigation for Zoetis (animal health), Ecolab/Nalco (industrial chemicals), InfoTrack (ICT), Dyno Nobel (explosives), Fuchs (lubricants), AstraZeneca (pharmaceuticals), Smith & Nephew (medical devices) and ANZ Bank (ICT), as well as other intellectual property disputes for Xiamen Huadian Switchgear Co., Ltd (electrical infrastructure), Australian Unity (employment / confidential information), Global Health Limited (copyright) and many other major Australian and foreign clients.

Duncan has developed a significant practice in conducting oppositions in the Australian Patent Office, including for client such as James Hardie (building products), Zoetis (animal health), Johnson & Johnson (pharmaceuticals), Dyno Nobel (explosives), Manildra Milling Corporation (food technology), EMD Millipore (membrane products), Telstra (ICT), and Visa (ICT).

Duncan is a member of the Law Council of Australia’s Intellectual Property Committee. He is also a member of the Intellectual Property Society of Australia and New Zealand and the International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property, and regularly attends conferences of other leading IP societies including the International Trade Mark Association, the American Intellectual Property Law Association, and BIO.

Duncan has been consistently Recommended in notable legal publications such as Legal 500, IAM Patent 1000, Chambers & Partners.