
Penelope Catley
Principal \ AJ Park Law Limited, Wellington
Penny Catley 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 passionate about maximising the value of her clients’ intangible assets.
Penny has worked for clients in a number of industries, including dairy, food and beverage, wine, education, fashion, energy and FMCG among others. She currently acts for successful local companies Z Energy, as well as international companies Harley-Davidson and Novartis, 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 for 11 years (four of those as a partner) at full-service law firm Kensington Swan, where she headed up the intellectual property team. Penny started her career at AJ Park.
Recent accolades
Penny’s recent industry accolades include being:
- ranked as a trade mark star in New Zealand in Managing IP's IP Stars 2021
- named by Managing IP as one of the Top 250 Women in IP 2020
- highlighted in World Trademark Review’s WTR 1000 2021 for prosecution and strategy and acknowledged for her ‘astute commercial insights and wealth of experience to the team’
- named in The Legal 500’s Asia-Pacific 2021 guide and elite ‘leading lawyers’ list
- named a global leader for trade marks by Who’s Who Legal 2020.
- named a national and global leader for trade marks in the 2021 edition of Who's Who Legal
- recognised as a Trade Mark star in Managing IP's 2021 IP Stars
- named in the 2021 list of World Intellectual Property Review Leaders
- named in The Legal 500’s Asia-Pacific 2022 guide and elite ‘leading lawyers’ list
- highlighted in WTR 1000 2022 as a highly recommended individual
- selected by her peers for inclusion in the 2023 Best Lawyers in New Zealand™ in the field of IP law.
Beyond work
Penny loves fashion and design and recently completed a beach house renovation project. She enjoys a “big, rich and buttery” Californian chardonnay and the network of colleagues and friends she has established around the world as a result of practising in this field of the law.
Services
Expertise
Qualifications
- LLB, Victoria University of Wellington (1989)
- Admitted as a Barrister & Solicitor of the High Court of New Zealand
- Registered Patent Attorney (New Zealand and Australia)
- Registered Trade Marks Attorney (Australia)

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