History

The Institute of Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys of Australia can trace its origins back almost 120 years.

The original Australasian Institute of Patent Agents, founded in 1890, reflected two trends:

• Expanded university courses for professions seeking industry associations to promote aims and codes of practice
• The likelihood of an Australian Federation, leading to the replacement of different State laws with uniform Commonwealth patent laws

Another group, the Patent Attorneys Association of Australia, formed in 1916.

Three years later, however, half of Australia's registered patent attorneys didn't belong to either body.

In 1932, the old Australasian Institute and the Institute of Patent Attorneys of Australia amalgamated - largely because of growing international trade and the need for a single body able to liaise with similar overseas organisations.

In 1998, the Institute changed its name to The Institute of Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys of Australia (IPTA), following the Intellectual Property Laws Amendment Bill 1997  and the Trans-Tasman Mutual Recognition legislation.

IPTA also amended its Memorandum of Association, Articles of Association, Code of Ethics and Ethics Guidelines. The changes were designed to:

• Enhance and maintain the standing of IPTA Fellows
• Broaden membership categories to encompass registered Australian trademarks attorneys

The Annual General Meeting and Dinner developed into the Annual Conference. Initially attended by members and official guests only, these Conferences were male-only events until the first female member was admitted as a Fellow in 1962.

Today, the Institute boasts 81 female Fellows.

While members’ work was originally honorary, a permanent Secretariat was established in 1980, allowing IPTA to take on larger, more time-consuming initiatives.

IPTA’s Academy of Education was introduced in 1999, providing training for student patent attorneys, helping them obtain qualifications to practise as patent attorneys in Australia and New Zealand.

Initially, Drafting Patent Specifications and Interpretation and Validity of Patent Specifications were offered, with Patent System being added in 2000.

IPTA members now have a more effective lobbying voice, higher profiles within industries they serve and growing ties with other intellectual property bodies around the world.

Past Presidents

1919 - 1922                       Edward Waters

1923 - 1924                       Cecil Woods Le Plastrier

1925 - 1926                       Clement Alfred Hack

1927 - 1928                       Walter Sigmont

1929 - 1930                       Arthur Griffith

1931                                   Wilfred Joseph Spruson

1932 - 1934                       Leslie Bartlett Davies

1935 - 1936                       Victor Jasper Kelson

1937 - 1938                       Frank Bayston

1939 - 1940                       William Arthur Ashton

1941 - 1942                       Ronald Keith White

1943 - 1944                       Geoffrey Sly

1945 - 1946                       John Gordon McGregor

1947 - 1948                       Sturt de Burgh Griffith

1949 - 1950                       John Barton Hack

1951 - 1952                       Arthur Stanley Cave

1953 - 1954                       Bertram Charles Fitzpatrick

1955 - 1956                       Myer Starfield

1957 - 1958                       Walter Haywood Hooworth

1959 - 1960                       Ronald Keith White

1961                                   Mark Joseph Callinan

1962                                   Johannes Carl Schmidt

1963 - 1964                       George Henry Frazer

1965 - 1966                       George Howe Rance

1967 - 1968                       Kenneth Norman Rimington

1969 - 1970                       Raymond Pennafort Barry White

1971 - 1972                       Alan Geoffrey McKee

1973 - 1974                       William Denis McNiven

1975 - 1976                       Desmond James Ryan

1977 - 1978                       Robert Gale Shelston

1979 - 1980                       David Bertram Fitzpatrick

1981                                   Peter John Marsh

1982 - 1983                       Laurence John Dyson

1984                                   James Gordon Siely

1985 - 1986                       Keith Leslie

1987                                   Trevor Noel Beadle

1988 - 1989                       Raymond Walton

1990 - 1991                       Terrence John Collins

1992 - 1993                       David Thomas Wilson

1994 - 1995                       Howard Kenneth Schulze

1996 - 1997                       Fraser Patison Old

1998 - 1999                       John Michael Slattery

2000 - 2001                       Douglas Charles Carter

2002 - 2003                       Colin Douglas Macauley

2004 - 2006                       Malcolm John Royal

2006 -2007                        Antony John Fowler Ward

2008                                   David Carlyle Griffith

The Institute of Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys of Australia (IPTA) is the peak professional body representing Australian patent and trade mark attorneys.
Phone Australia: 03 9819 2004. Email: mail@ipta.org.au

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