About Richard Hamer
Richard has been ranked consistently as one of the leading patent litigators in Australia. His practice in the Federal Court of Australia involves cases of key importance to major international and Australian corporations.
He frequently acts in pharmaceutical patent cases, often for originators. Cases include acting for Pfizer in litigation on the blockbuster drugs Lipitor and Lyrica and the major vaccine Prevenar, for Servier in relation to Coversyl and Diamicron and UCB in relation to Vimpat.
He is currently acting in a Federal Court appeal in relation to the patentability of inventions made by computer inventors after achieving a world first court decision in favour of patentability.
He also does substantial work in the chemical, metallurgical, engineering, food and IT areas, for example acting for Siemens and Evoqua in patent litigation relating to advanced water filtration technology.
Key aspects of his practice include building strong legal/technical teams, excellent understanding of the technology (he has a science qualification), ability to work within agreed client budgets, and ensuring that all relevant ways to achieve the client's ultimate objectives are considered. For example, other options - regulatory or commercial - may sometimes be preferred to running a patent case to trial.
In addition to patent litigation, he advises on commercial transactions involving IP and on regulatory issues relating to pharmaceutical and food products.
He is ranked at the highest band by Chambers. International Asset Management magazine’s Patent 1000 refers to Richard as a ‘contentious expert’, who offers ‘impeccable service and a keen corporate insight’.
He has been actively involved in IP policy issues, having held the positions of Chair of the Intellectual Property Committee of the Law Council of Australia and president of the Licensing Executives Society of ANZ. He has been invited to appear before Senate committees on patent law and policy issues.