Current practice

David Stewart joined Freehills as a special counsel in April 2007, and has been practising Intellectual Property law for 12 years. David’s current practice focuses on advice and management of Australian and multi-national trade mark portfolios.

David runs contentious intellectual property matters including passing off litigation, anti-counterfeiting and parallel importation strategies, acting as counsel on trade mark opposition proceedings, and technology contracts and advice especially for the banking and government sectors.

David has a particular interest in geographical indicators of origin, has been involved in appellation disputes in the wine industry, and is a member of the International Trade Mark Association’s Geographical Indicators Committee.

Industry experience

Prior to joining Freehills, David was head of one of Perth’s largest intellectual property practices for four years, and practised for four years in Hong Kong. During his time in Hong Kong, David gained extensive experience throughout Asia in brand advice and management, anti-counterfeiting operations in China, and technology issues for regional telecommunications and IT companies. 

In 2005-2006, David acted as counsel on instructions from a patent attorney firm and successfully removed the 'Ugg Boot' trade mark from the Australian trade mark registry, which made international headlines and was the subject of a film documentary.

Professional background

David holds an Arts degree from the University of Western Australia, a law degree from Murdoch University and a Masters of Law (IP) from Murdoch University. David is admitted as a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of Western Australia and the High Court of Australia, and is an Australian registered trade mark attorney.

David has lectured for the Masters in Intellectual Property course at Murdoch University, and for the Australian Graduate School of Management’s MBA course in Hong Kong.

David has also addressed members of the Cambodian judiciary, government, industry, NGOs and unions on intellectual property issues in the WTO at the Asia Foundation’s World Trade Organisation Treaty accession series in Phnom Pehn in Cambodia in 2003 and 2004.

David is also a member of the Asia-Pacific Intellectual Property Institute based at Murdoch University.