Leading Australian Patent Attorneys: Strategic Partners for IP Protection and Enforcement

Our patent attorneys craft specifications attuned to USPTO standards, employing problem-solution structures and draft descriptions to meet enablement requirements. We also carefully consider continuation, divisional, or continuation-in-part applications to pursue additional claims or improvements.

Baxter IP patent attorneys assess inventions for patentable subject matter and draft multifaceted claims to capture each core concept independently. To achieve cost-efficiency our attorneys organise related innovations into cost-efficient families. We also utilise centralised processing such as is available via the PCT or Unitary Patent and various patent prosecution highways when it is advantageous to do so.

Investors prioritise protection for the innovations that are key to fencing out competition - "creating a moat" as they often refer to it. Consequently, our patent attorney's motto is “defensible breadth” - which means producing applications that unambiguously showcase inventive step and differentiate over known prior art. This, together with IP audit and freedom-to-operate searching and analysis position client portfolios well for investor due diligence, which may, in turn, boost appeal and valuation.

Underscored by extensive patent opposition experience, our patent attorneys dissect opposition claims and formulate compelling counterarguments and submissions. We also source and interview persons skilled in the art to obtain evidence of the common general knowledge or other inputs to bolster our client's position. We're always working towards your commercial objectives whether that’s achieving a particular amendment, negotiating a settlement or completing the opposition proceeding.

A registered patent attorney is qualified in both a technical field and patent law, and specialises in obtaining and defending patent rights — drafting specifications, prosecuting applications before IP Australia and overseas offices, and running oppositions. A patent lawyer (solicitor) advises on the broader legal questions surrounding a patent, including infringement litigation, contracts and Federal Court proceedings. The Baxter IP team are registered patent and trade mark attorneys, not solicitors. We take an invention from first filing through to a granted, enforceable patent, and where court litigation requires solicitors or barristers we brief and coordinate trusted specialist counsel — so whichever you searched for, your invention is covered.

Because the scope of your protection is decided by how well the invention is described and claimed. Every Baxter IP patent attorney holds a degree in a technical field alongside their patent qualification, across defence, electrical and robotics, physics and engineering, medical devices, chemistry and software. An attorney who genuinely understands your technology can identify the inventive concept, anticipate how a competitor would design around it, and answer an Examiner on the substance rather than the surface.

Yes. Our principal office is in the Sydney CBD and our registered patent attorneys act for Sydney inventors and companies every day, from first-time applicants to ASX-listed R&D teams. Most patent work runs by phone, email and video, but you are welcome to meet us at our Sydney office whenever you would prefer to talk in person.

Yes. Alongside Sydney we act for Melbourne and wider Victorian clients from Level 4, 447 Collins Street — see our patent and trade mark attorneys in Melbourne for the sectors we work in there, or the Melbourne office contact details to arrange a visit. Patents are granted federally by IP Australia rather than state by state, so where your attorney sits makes no difference to your rights — what matters is that they understand your technology.

Yes to both. Australian patent rights are national, and we act for clients in every state and territory. Internationally, we file PCT applications covering more than 150 countries and coordinate national phase entry through our network of foreign associates in the US, Europe and Asia.

Yes. Software and computer-implemented inventions are one of our specialisms, and patentable subject matter is more accommodating in Australia than many inventors expect. These applications turn on how the invention is framed and claimed, which is where an attorney with a genuine software background earns their fee. See our software patents page for how we approach them.

Baxter IP was one of the first Australian patent attorney firms to move to fixed-fee and capped-fee work. Before any action we give you a fixed cost estimate and only begin once there is agreement on price, and at the first meeting you receive our Patent Applicant's Guide setting out costs across the whole process so you can budget years ahead. What a patent costs depends on your technology, how many countries you protect and how examination unfolds — see our guide to patent costs in Australia.