Joining the firm’s Melbourne office, Goatcher was previously with Allens Arthur Robinson for 13 years, rising to special counsel in Allens’ Perth office.

Goatcher has broad law experience in the areas of mining, resources, energy, manufacturing, banking and software, though his focus for the past eight years has been IP. He has acted on matters regarding allegations of misuse and/or infringement of patent rights, copyright, designs, trademarks and trade secrets.

Goatcher began his law career in Melbourne in the Federal Court of Australia, later moving to Clayton Utz for two years before joining Allens in 1994 as a lawyer in the litigation and dispute resolution group. After moving to Allens’ communications and technology IP group in 1997, he relocated from the firm’s Melbourne office to Perth in 2004 to carry out a 12-month secondment to HIsmelt, a subsidiary of Rio Tinto, as an in-house counsel. He was admitted as a lawyer in Victoria in 1993 and Western Australia in 2005.

Currently secretary and immediate past president of the Intellectual Property Society of Australia and New Zealand (IPSANZ), Goatcher is also a past chairman of IPSANZ’s Victorian Committee, and a current member of IPSANZ’s Western Australian Committee. He is co-author of Australian Patent Law, an IP text published by LexisNexis Butterworths.