AJ Park has again been listed as a leading firm for New Zealand patent litigation and prosecution in Intellectual Asset Magazine’s 2019 IAM Patent 1000 – The World’s Leading Patent Professionals.
The IAM Patent 1000 is the world’s leading patent practitioners’ guide and is commonly regarded as the definitive ‘go to’ resource for those seeking to identify world-class, private practice patent expertise.
As with previous editions, to arrive at the 2019 rankings, IAM undertook an exhaustive qualitative research project to identify outstanding firms and individuals across multiple jurisdictions. When identifying the leading firms, factors such as depth of knowledge, market presence and the level of work on which they are typically instructed were all taken into account, as well as positive peer and client feedback.
Quoting independent referees, the guide’s commentary includes the following about AJ Park:
AJ Park is a “pre-eminent firm with an illustrious history” that offers rights holders a staggering breadth of technical expertise. With its attorneys divided into two broad teams, covering the engineering, IT and life sciences areas, IPH-owned AJ Park is the largest IP firm and employer of patent attorneys in New Zealand. The firm’s size gives it the ability to easily and swiftly “organise ad hoc teams” to tackle any kind of patent conundrum.
Eight AJ Park principals have been highlighted in this year’s guide. From our Auckland engineering and IT team, Anton Blijlevens is described as a ‘lodestar’ with ‘plenty of experience of bespoke team building’ and a ‘veritable expert on all things patent-related’. Hadleigh Brown and Greg West-Walker are considered ‘esteemed advisers’. Newly minted in the IAM Patent 1000, Hadleigh Brown is ‘extremely knowledgeable in electrical engineering, electronics and software matters’ and ‘his domestic clients particularly appreciate his sharp client focus’. Furthermore, he ‘provides cost-effective solutions that can be complex in nature—yet made easily understandable—to meet clients’ commercial goals’. Greg West-Walker is ‘the darling of numerous New Zealand and multinational companies’ and ‘highly esteemed in government circles’. Matt Adams and Michael Brown, who co-head AJ Park’s Wellington engineering and IT team, were also listed. Matt Adams ‘maintains a laser focus on the software and IT space’. Michael Brown is characterised as having ‘a high degree of responsiveness, thoughtful advice and a sensitivity to clients’ needs’ and ‘his expertise spans the aerospace, maritime, medical device and electronics sectors.’ On the life sciences side, Anton Gibson is ‘known as an extremely adroit portfolio manager and enforcer of patents’. Lastly, Kate McHaffie and Mark Hargreaves ‘enhance the litigation and transactional prowess of the firm respectively’. Kate McHaffie is described as having ‘a gift for understanding the most complex pharmaceutical inventions’ and Mark Hargreaves is acclaimed for having ‘negotiated every type of IP-driven deal imaginable’.
All research is conducted entirely independently of any commercial considerations. Firms and individuals ranked in this publication are included because the market says they should be, and only those delivering top-quality patent services make the cut.
We are proud to continue to feature in this prestigious guide. Congratulations to the eight principals who have been individually recognised for their outstanding work.