Julie Ballance

Julie is a senior Trans-Tasman patent attorney, and a New Zealand registered lawyer and notary public with more than 30 years’ experience across a range of technology areas and a first class honours degree in chemistry. Julie is internationally renowned for her considerable patent/trade mark/designs/legal prowess, including being ranked in IAM Patent 1000.

Her practice includes contentious and non-contentious patent, trade mark and designs IP/legal services in Australia and New Zealand.

Her clients include global and local companies and institutes focussed on small molecule pharmaceuticals, industrial chemistry, chemical engineering, organic chemistry, medical technology (including medical devices), food technology, agricultural technology, mechanical devices and processes, biopharmaceuticals, and biotechnology.

Julie drafts and prosecutes patents in Australia and New Zealand and manages all aspects of Patent Office actions including oppositions.

Julie has a significant trade marks practice and works with clients across a broad industry base to ensure their branding enforcement strategies are aligned with their commercial goals.

She is adept at conducting regional freedom to operate clearance work and building regional IP strategies with impact. She has considerable experience managing Federal Court litigation in Australia and implementing NZ focussed IP enforcement/challenges.

Julie also has considerable experience in design registration and disputes, including in 2016 Julie successfully managed New Zealand’s only recent registered design infringement proceedings in the High Court of New Zealand [Watkins Manufacturing Corporation v Prestige Pools Limited, [2018] NZHC 709].

Julie has been extensively involved with the patent attorney profession throughout her career, having served as President of the New Zealand Intellectual Property Attorneys Inc. and as a member of the Professional Standards Board for Patent and Trade Marks Attorneys (now the Trans-Tasman Intellectual Property Attorneys Board), which administers the regulatory and disciplinary regimes for patent attorneys in Australia and New Zealand. She was also an examiner for candidates seeking registration as a patent attorney in New Zealand.

As a Notary Public, Julie assists both local and overseas clients by notarising documents and arranging authentication and legalisation of notarised documents for use in other countries where needed.

Earlier in her career, Julie spent over 20 years as a partner of Baldwins, now part of AJ Park.