List G Barristers
Clare Cunliffe has particular expertise in intellectual property litigation, with extensive experience in patent revocation and infringement proceedings (including pharmaceutical patent injunctions) and patent oppositions, trade mark infringement and revocation proceedings, non-use applications and oppositions, and copyright litigation, as well as litigation concerning the misuse of confidential information in the pharmaceutical context.
Clare is listed in Doyle's Guide to Leading Victorian Intellectual Property Barristers (2021) as a pre-eminent junior counsel and in Doyle’s Leading Intellectual Property Junior Counsel – Australia (2021) as a pre-eminent junior counsel. https://doylesguide.com/leadin...
She is listed in Chambers Intellectual Property: The Bar (2020) as a Band 1 practitioner. Her review reads:
“Operating across the IP spectrum, Clare Cunliffe is particularly well known for her "encyclopedic knowledge of patent law and patent decisions in Australia and beyond, and her ability to bring that knowledge to bear in cases." This makes her "a first choice for large, complex patent infringement and validity proceedings," it being further noted that "leading IP senior counsel tend to choose her as their junior." More than one interviewee places her in the front rank of junior counsel practising at the IP Bar.”
and in the Legal 500 Asia-Pacific (2020) as a Leading Junior. Her review reads:
“Her knowledge of patent law and her ability to grasp complex technology sets her apart in this field. Clare is a leading junior in patent, trade mark, copyright, consumer law and competition matters.”
Before joining the Bar, Clare was a Senior Associate at Corrs Chambers Westgarth in Melbourne where she practised in intellectual property litigation, focusing on patent litigation, and general commercial litigation. Clare has also worked in the United Kingdom, at boutique intellectual property firm Powell Gilbert, and at Allens. From 2005 to 2018, Clare co-authored the Australian chapter of Kluwer’s Global Patent Litigation. She is also writing the Australian chapter of a text called Patent Enforcement for Globe Law and Business.
From 2012 to 2015, Clare was the secretary of the Intellectual Property Society of Australia and New Zealand (IPSANZ). From 2016 to 2018, she was the Treasurer. From 2018 she became Vice President of IPSANZ, a position she still holds. She has been a committee member of the International Association for the Protection of Industrial Property (AIPPI Australia) from 2013. In 2016 she became treasurer and chair of the continuing professional development committee, a position she still holds. She is also vice chair of AIPPI’s global amicus curiae committee.
Bachelor of Laws (Hons) (Melbourne)
Bachelor of Arts (Hons) (Melbourne)
Diploma Intellectual Property Law (Bristol)