Michael Williams

Practice Areas

Michael is the head of our award-winning Technology and Intellectual Property group. He is a market-leading IP litigator, with three decades of trial and appellate experience in Australia. His IP practice encompasses anti-counterfeiting, copyright, trade marks, patents, trade secrets and false advertising. He also has extensive experience in media and entertainment and technology law.

Michael is well known in the market for his strategic advice, deep subject matter knowledge and robust advocacy for clients. His creative strategies and capacity to extract clients from conflicts means that local and international businesses turn to him to help them navigate their most complex IP issues.

He has litigated some of the most important IP cases in the last 20 years, resulting in decisions with profound consequences for the legal landscape in Australia. He is one of the few lawyers to have run appeals in the High Court of Australia concerning copyright, trade mark and patent law.

Twice named Intellectual Property Partner of the Year, Michael holds leading rankings in key legal industry directories, including Chambers Asia-Pacific, Legal 500, Best Lawyers and Doyle’s Guide.

Michael is widely published on IP law in leading journals and periodicals. He is a regular speaker and media commentator on IP law and developments in the use of technology in legal practice. He has a fascination with technology and has published and spoken extensively on the impact of AI.

He holds a BEc (Political Science) and LLB (Honours Class 1) from the University of Sydney.

His memberships include INTA, the ABA, the Copyright Society of Australia and IPSANZ.