One of Australia’s leading Intellectual Property Law Firms, Wrays, has announced the hiring of Principal, Richard Baddeley. Richard joins Wrays after 31 years at Watermark and after Watermark was subsumed into the listed IPH Group of entities.
This high-profile appointment is a coup for Wrays with Richard regarded as ‘a stalwart’ of the Intellectual Property Industry. Richard is the immediate past-President of The Institute of Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys (IPTA) and Governor and Honorary Secretary of the Petroleum Club WA. His appointment builds on the already well-established national Engineering & Technology team.
Richard provides advice on all aspects of intellectual property and has built an impressive track record acting for a range of clients from start-ups to large multinationals. Richard’s background in both chemical and mechanical engineering provides a platform to understand the technical merits of innovation across a wide range of fields including the energy, mining and automotive sectors.
For Richard, the decision to join Wrays followed a number of changes and mergers in the IP legal industry. Richard said “I have long admired the ambition and drive behind Wrays. As a formidable competitor to my previous firm, our team was always looking for ways to step ahead. I would often find that the Wrays team, with its brand strength, had already got there. Now, I look forward to joining that step-ahead team culture and making things happen with the Wrays team.”
Richard’s appointment follows the recent arrival of Dr Mary Turonek. With Mary and Richard now both at Wrays, the firm has arguably one of the best technical chemical and engineering IP groups in the country. “I see great potential for developing our energy practice working with Mary Turonek who has much experience as I do. We’re going to be busy!” Richard said.
Among several exciting developments in the energy industry, Richard is particularly excited about Floating LNG technology as well as hydrogen and its use as a competitive and powerful ‘clean’ fuel. Richard believes there are enormous possibilities for Australia to develop leading-edge technologies using hydrogen and he encourages collaboration within industries to take advantage of the opportunities.
About Wrays – Wrays is one of the largest independent IP specialist firms in Australia – providing end to end IP solutions including IP strategy, patents, trade marks, commercial agreements and dispute resolution. Established in 1920, this year Wrays celebrates their 100th year Anniversary.