Penelope Catley

Penelope Catley

Principal \ AJ Park Law Limited, Wellington

Penny has over 30 years’ experience as a commercial intellectual property lawyer, advising on trade marks, copyright, trade secrets and related commercial agreements.

Expertise

Penny is a commercial intellectual property lawyer in Australia and New Zealand. She has practised for more than 30 years and is a registered patent attorney in both countries.

Penny enjoys interacting with her local and international clients and getting to know their business issues. She is keen to maximise the value of her clients’ intangible assets.

Penny works for public and private sector clients in a range of industries, including food and beverage, information technology, health, wine, education, fashion and textiles, energy, agriculture and FMCG among others. She currently acts for successful local companies Z Energy, Jade Software, House of Travel, Contact Energy, Victoria University of Wellington Te Herenga Waka, and Australian fashion designer Collette Dinnigan.

Experience

Penny is a past President of the New Zealand Institute of Patent Attorneys (NZIPA). Before joining Baldwins (now AJ Park), Penny worked at law firm Dentons Kensington Swan. Penny started her career at AJ Park.

Recent accolades

Penny’s recent industry accolades include being:

  • named a leading individual in The Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2024
  • named in the 2024 edition of The Best Lawyers in New Zealand
  • named by Managing IP's IP STARS as a Trade Mark Star for 2023
  • named by Managing IP's IP STARS as one of the Top 250 Women in IP 2022 and 2020
  • ranked as a Trade Mark Star in New Zealand in Managing IP's IP STARS for over 10 years
  • highly recommended individual prosecution and strategy - World Trademark Review’s WTR 1000 2022 acknowledged as having 'assisted countless brands in Trans-Tasman trademark and brand protection matters' and in 2021 acknowledged for her ‘astute commercial insights and wealth of experience'
  • selected by her peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in New Zealand 2023 and 2024 in the field of IP law 
  • recognised by her peers as being amongst the world’s best and brightest IP practitioners in the WIPR Leaders 2022 handbook
  • recommended as a global leader for trade marks and national leader for IP in Australia and New Zealand by Who’s Who Legal 2022.

Beyond work

Penny loves fashion, art and interior design. She enjoys a 'big, rich, buttery' Californian chardonnay and the network of colleagues and friends she has established around the world throughout her career.

Qualifications

  • LLB, Victoria University of Wellington
  • Admitted as a Barrister & Solicitor of the High Court of New Zealand
  • Registered Patent Attorney (New Zealand and Australia)
  • Registered Trade Marks Attorney (Australia)
Penny Catley 2

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