About our editors

 

Natalie Hickey

Natalie Hickey moonlights as a King & Wood Mallesons dispute resolution partner. One of the co-instigators of the IP Whiteboard concept in 2009, Natalie is our ‘chief editor’, which just means she has an oversight role. Natalie is a repeat viewer of The Social Network, confident that she too will have an idea you can give away for free, but which will be worth billions of dollars… She is otherwise an avid reader of celebrity magazines such as Who Weekly, but of course only buys it ‘for the articles’. Her focus on IP Whiteboard reflects these interests.

Jonathan Kelp

Jonathan was there at the start when the Whiteboard was just a twinkle in the IP team’s eye – and my hasn’t it come on since then.

As a Senior Associate in the Melbourne team Jonathan deals with anything and everything you can throw into an IP dispute, including confidential information, trade marks, patents and copyright. He also has a steady stream of IT disputes going on the side.

And now it’s confession time. Jonathan is ready to admit why Google analytics displayed a single avid reader of our blog in each of Solvenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Bulgaria and Turkey last year. Yes, you can never have too much IP news, even on holiday on the other side of the world.

Peter Carstairs

Peter is a senior associate (part-time) at Mallesons in Melbourne and has a genuine interest in copyright law, particularly if it involves films or music. Like Dale Kerrigan in The Castle, Peter likes ideas. Other than that, they don’t have much in common.

Sophia Finter

Sophia is a senior associate in the Brisbane office. Sophia has worked on most of the music and film piracy cases run in Australia in the last 10 years – like mp3WMALand, mp3s4free, kazaa and iiNet. In her spare time she tries to keep up with her own real life pirates – her kids – Tikai and Aurua.

Suzy Madar

Suzy is mainly into drugs. Whilst this means she loves a good stoush over drugs, blogging on a broad range of issues relating to other aspects of intellectual property and commercial disputes holds her interest too. When she is not blogging about drugs … and the latest goings on in IP, being a Senior Associate who specialises in patent litigation as well as pharmaceutical and medical device regulatory issues helps keep her out of harm’s way.

When not doing any of these things, Suzy likes to get out of the city, and better still, out of the country! She is about to tick off her sixth continent and looks forward to planning the next one – Antarctica!

Anthony McKew

Anthony works in the Brisbane office. He enjoys the ripples caused by analogue media going digital, litigation involving hip-hop artists, and puns (in no particular order) and his ideal blog post includes all three. He is looking forward to Apple and Samsung amicably resolving their differences, but is settled in for the long haul.

Samantha McHugh

Samantha McHugh is a solicitor loving everything media, food, fashion and IP, who would like to get to pilates more frequently. With a penchant for mustard-coloured home furnishings and a mean repertoire of desserts, Sam has dreams of one day juggling a successful legal career with a chase for an endless summer around the globe. Sam also enjoys reality TV and online shopping to an extent which is unhealthy. Sam loves writing posts about branding, marketing, celebrities and anything that makes her giggle.

Stephanie Puris

Steph is a solicitor in the Dispute Resolution team of our Perth office. Before embarking on her legal career, Steph worked in marketing and public relations which has left her with a strong interest in all things media and IP related. Having recently relocated from Sydney to Perth, Steph is enjoying the sunshine and trying to explore the west coast as much as possible.

James Russell

James is a parochial Melbournian solicitor who loves a good stoush over IP. Particularly interested in copyright law and the protection of content on the Internet, James is also skilled in online marketing speak, and will explain a metatag or the Gestalt effect on consumer perception to anyone game enough to listen. In his spare time, James will either be surviving another deplorable display by the Demons at the Frank Grey Smith (it’s a bar), or will be filling up his freezer with fruits of the sea, caught with the aid of a rod, spear or tank.

Rebecca Slater

Rebecca is a solicitor in the Brisbane office who is pleased to finally be able to put her journalism degree to use. She is a regular reader of IP and media blogs, and loves following the progress of IP disputes all around the world, particularly when they involve storm trooper helmets or super heroes.

Amy Surkis

Amy is a solicitor in the Melbourne IP litigation team. Amy enjoys all things IP, with a particular interest in patent law and contentious matters. Amy is a fan of the new and the original. So much so, Amy has recently changed her name from Amy ‘Greenberg’ to Amy ‘Surkis’, just to keep things fresh. On an unrelated note, Amy also recently got married. Amy particularly appreciates matters that enable her to make atrocious puns, one may even say that her love for such things is ‘patent’…

Christina Surm

Christina is a solicitor in the Brisbane office. She dabbles in all areas of IP law, both contentious and non-contentious, as well as IT and competition law. Christina also has a marketing degree resulting in her interest in trademarks, advertising and media.

Edwina Whitby

Edwina is also a Sydney IP enthusiast, with a broad focus across trade marks, branding, copyright – most things IP. She’s been following the iiNet case closely, and enjoying the view across Sydney Harbour from Governor Phillip Tower whenever she can.

Melissa Anderson

A certified chocoholic and avid tennis player, Melissa works as a solicitor in the Sydney IP litigation team. When she’s not brushing up on trade marks, domain names or copyright law, you can generally find her either (i) eating chocolate, (ii) sipping hot chocolate, (iii) searching for her next chocolate fix … or (iv) working off the chocolate on a tennis court!