Middletons (Melbourne) Straight talking
Overview
Middletons is a full service Australian commercial law firm with offices in Melbourne, Perth and Sydney.We provide an extensive breadth of legal services in specific industries we see as integral to the Australian and world economies to ensure we understand our clients’ businesses. These industries include life sciences such as biotechnology, technology and telecommunications, energy and resources, finance and insurance, manufacturing and retail, property and development, and transport, distribution and logistics.
Unlike other law firms, Middletons is unique with regards to servicing the life sciences sector. Our life sciences practice consists of lawyers with biological sciences qualifications and direct industry experience, enabling the firm to provide strategic advice and support focused on the industry's needs, including its the technology commercialisation process. Please refer to competitive advantages for more information.
Specific focus of company
Our life sciences practice concentrates in providing pragmatic commercial and legal technology advice to a broad range of players within the industry, from research institutes, start-up ventures, biotechnology companies, pharmaceutical companies, diagnostic companies and medical device companies, both within Australia and overseas.
Core business definition
Legal services associated with all facets of technology commercialisation and intellectual property management with particular expertise in biotechnology encompassing:
- IP strategy for protection, defence, commercialisation and marketing of intellectual property assets and their products
- IP structuring providing the most effective structure to protect your intellectual property assets and maximise potential opportunities from them, including providing tax, corporate and intellectual property advice
- IP management and advice in relation to trademarks, patents, copyright and trade secrets, including liaising with patent attorneys where appropriate
- IP protection involving domestic and international registrations, opposition proceedings and infringements
- competition law and passing off in all areas of restrictive trade practices, misleading and deceptive conduct, false representations, and unconscionable conduct
- IP audits review and advise on intellectual property portfolios to identify and advise on core and non core intellectual property assets
- preparation and negotiation of a range of license agreements, sponsored and collaborative research and development agreements, material transfer agreements, a range of service agreements for contract research across in vitro studies, animal studies and clinical trials
- negotiating and advising on technology licenses, assignments, sales, capital raisings, commercialisation, joint ventures and spin off companies
- advice in relation to patent licensing, distribution and supply agreements, and e-commerce law issues arising from privacy, security and content regulation
- taxation and revenue structures advice on the optimal structures for educational institutions, research entities, pooled development funds, not for profit organisations, public private partnerships and start-up companies
- government funding advice at all levels of the decision-making and policy formation process
- capital markets managing and advising biotechnology companies on the initial public offering ('IPO') of their shares on the Australian Stock Exchange or other exchange, including structuring the company and its IP assets, managing the IP assets, conducting due diligence and running the due diligence committee meetings, liaising and negotiating with the brokers and other advisors and pre IPO investment advice, whilst ensuring a stringent timetable is met and the ASX, ASIC and other regulatory frameworks are complied with.
Main business focus/
Listing by sector:
- Service Provider
Competitive Advantages
Having a team of lawyers with specialised science qualifications coupled with corporate experience in the biotechnology and life sciences sector is extremely valuable to business as we have intimate knowledge of the process required to take emerging technologies from concept, to product, to market and the key players and steps required along the way.
Our involvement in technology commercialisation enables us to advise organisations based on experience and proven approaches, from concept invention, patent strategy and capital raising to establishing clinical trials and identifying new paths to market. Middletons has both the knowledge coupled with experience to assist you.
Other
Middletons’ experience includes:
- managing and acting in the A$25 million IPO and ASX listing of Patrys Limited, an Australian natural antibody company with businesses in the US and Germany, including undertaking an international restructuring and acquisition of all intellectual property assets, and ongoing technology and intellectual property matters
- acting in the merger between Peptech Limited and Evogenix Limited to form Arana Therapeutics Limited
- acting in the A$9 million IPO and ASX listing of Evogenix Limited
- managing and acting in the A$21 million IPO and ASX listing of Mesoblast Limited, an Australian stem cell business with investment in US stem cell company Angioblast, and ongoing technology and intellectual property matters
- acting in the A$18 million IPO and ASX listing of Cordlife Limited (formerly CyGenics Limited) an international stem cell group (based in Australia, Singapore and the USA), and ongoing technology and intellectual property matters
- acting in the takeover of Arana Therapeutics Limited by Cephalon Inc.
- in the life sciences, advising on commercial agreements including research and development collaborations, licence agreements, material transfer agreements and contract research, clinical trial and manufacturing agreements with companies such as Johnson and Johnson, Takeda, Abbott, CSL, GSK, Roche, Smith and Nephew, Medarex, and Lonza.
Contact Details
| Contact person | Jeremy Hyman |
|---|---|
| Job Title | Media and Communications Manager |
| Address | Level 25, Rialto South Tower |
| 525 Collins Street | |
| City/Suburb | Melbourne |
| State | Victoria |
| jeremy.hyman@middletons.com | |
| Phone | +61 2 9513 2451 |
| Fax | +61 3 9205 2055 |
| Website | http://www.middletons.com |
