Our Attorneys

 

Norman Morcom Dip Chem Eng FIPTA

 

Norman is a registered patent attorney in both Australia and New Zealand with over 25 years experience in the profession.  His work has been mostly in corporate practice with BHP, now part of BHP Billiton, which is a large Australian-based multinational resources company, where for 10 years he was Manager Patents with responsibility for BHP’s patent activities worldwide and had an active involvement in technology licensing. 

 

He is a Fellow of the Institute of Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys of Australia and a past member of the Executive Committee of the Australian Manufacturers Patents, Industrial Designs, Copyright and Trade Marks Association.

 

Norman’s basic technical qualification is in chemical engineering and he spent seven years as a research engineer at CSIRO and at BHP’s Research Laboratories before moving to the field of intellectual property protection.  He has a strong technical background and experience with a wide range of technologies, concentrating on the application of advanced engineering, automotive systems, instrumentation, petrochemicals, metallurgy, mining, and minerals processing. 

 

In 1997 Norman established Morcoms as a boutique patent attorney and intellectual property protection consultancy which expanded into the present Morcom Pernat practice in 2000.  His interests include adventure travel, Tai-Chi, bushwalking, cross-country ski touring, genealogy and fine wines.

 

 

 

 

Fred Pernat BSc (Hons) FIPTA

 

Fred’s academic background includes a chemistry major and sub majors in physics, mathematics and theory of computation.  He has been registered as a patent attorney in Australia since 1976 and later registered to practice in New Zealand also.

 

Fred commenced his career as a trainee patent attorney at a Melbourne patent attorney firm and was later appointed Patents Manager at ACI.  At that time ACI was a large multinational Australian-based conglomerate operating in a very diverse range of technologies including building products, glass making, packaging, coal mining, plastics, environmental consultancy, electronics and computer services.  In addition to exposing him to a broad range of practical technologies, Fred’s time at ACI gave him extensive opportunities for involvement in developing patent strategies, licensing, product development, litigation and marketing.

 

His next appointment as Sirotech Intellectual Property Manager gave Fred responsibility for the entire CSIRO patent portfolio which was the largest in Australia.  CSIRO is Australia’s foremost research organisation and patents were used as a basis for commercialising research through collaborative research and licensing arrangements.  He then went on to provide patent attorney consultancy services to a first tier legal/patent attorney firm and to Agriculture Victoria Services Pty Ltd a State Government organisation charged with responsibility for commercialising research.

 

Fred was the founder of the Intellectual Property Society of Australia and New Zealand and is a Fellow of the Institute of Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys of Australia.  His interests include squash, travel, bushwalking, reading and fine wine.

 

 

 

 

Michael Pernat BPT (Hons)  MIP  FIPTA

 

Michael is a registered Patent and Trade Mark Attorney in Australia and New Zealand and is a member of the Institute of Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys.

 

Along with his attorney qualifications Michael holds a Bachelor of Physiotherapy degree which he completed with honours at the University of Melbourne.  In addition, Michael has previously worked as an Assistant Lecturer of Anatomy at Monash University, Clayton Campus.  His academic interests have been carried over to the patent forum where he has a particular interest in inventions relating to testing and treatment of the human body.

 

Michael has a keen interest in fitness and exercise and also enjoys the odd action flick and video game.

 

 

 

 

 

 

MORCOM PERNAT

Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys