Overview
Simon is an accomplished professional services leader, and commenced as Managing Director of Spruson & Ferguson Australia following key leadership positions as head of the Australian Chemical/Life Sciences team and a Director of Spruson & Ferguson Australia.
After joining in early 2007, he was promoted to Principal after 6 years, and oversaw the growth and development of the largest Chemical/Life Sciences patent team in Australia as leader of the team from 2017-2022. His ability to develop a strong culture of teamwork and collaboration is demonstrated through all of his roles to date.
Simon has secured and maintained key relationships with a number of the firm’s most prominent clients, and continues to actively engage in business development activities across the firm. He has a comprehensive knowledge of Spruson & Ferguson’s operations across Australasia, Southeast Asia, and China, collaborating regularly with colleagues in the firm’s network of offices throughout the region. He also brings a thorough understanding of the IP industry to the role having practised for 15+ years as a patent practitioner in the biotechnology field. Simon’s move into the IP profession was preceded by a significant period in medical research, where he specialised in virology, molecular biology, genetics and immunology. After graduating from the University of Sydney with a university medal he gained a PhD for his research on HIV antiretroviral drug resistance, also at the University of Sydney. Following this Simon conducted over 2 years of postdoctoral research at the Pasteur Institute in Paris as a CJ Martin Postdoctoral Fellowship recipient, before returning to Australia to join the IP profession.
Simon’s expertise has earned him recognition from a number of IP industry guides, in particular:
- IAM Global Leaders (Australia) 2024
- IAM Strategy 300 (Australia) 2023, 2024
- IAM Patent 1000 (Australia) 2019-2024
- Managing Intellectual Property IP Stars 2021-2024
He is a fellow of The Institute of Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys of Australia, and a member of The Intellectual Property Society of Australia and New Zealand.