Nicholas is a leading patent, intellectual property and life sciences regulatory lawyer and litigator. He is dual-qualified (Australia and the United States) and offers a level of experience unique to the Australian market, with almost 30 years' experience advising and acting for many of the world's leading life sciences and technology companies in Australia and the United States with respect to their patent, intellectual property and regulatory issues and disputes.
Nicholas heads DLA Piper's Life Sciences practice in both Australia and the Asia-Pacific, leads DLA Piper's Life Sciences Intellectual Property and Regulatory practices in Australia, and is a leading member of DLA Piper’s HealthTech practice.
Nicholas advises clients with respect to all aspects of patent law, particularly in relation to patent issues and disputes in the life sciences and technology sectors, as well as copyright and trade mark law, particularly as they relate to the internet and high technology.
Nicholas has been involved in a number of Australia's and the United States' most significant patent cases and has established a reputation acting as a member of global teams representing clients in complex, multi-jurisdictional matters. He has advised and acted for many of the world's leading life sciences companies in Hatch-Waxman patent disputes in the United States and in the Australian component of equivalent complex patent litigation. He has acted for clients in patent disputes before trial courts, intermediate appeal courts (the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia) and final appeal courts (the Supreme Court of the United States and the High Court of Australia) in both jurisdictions.
Nicholas also advises life sciences companies on a broad range of regulatory issues including registration of pharmaceuticals and medical devices and technologies, promotion of products, pricing, compliance with industry codes, and clinical trials.
Nicholas is also a technophile and he has used his knowledge and understanding of technology to help numerous clients resolve multi-million dollar technology related legal disputes.