Jonathan heads James & Wells’ Patents Team specialising in mechanical engineering, electronics, physics, telecommunications and software. He has a strong academic background in physics and many years’ patent attorney experience working across all these fields. He specialises in drafting patent specifications, prosecuting patent applications, handling patent oppositions, providing opinions and supporting patent litigation for many local and multi-national companies.

Jonathan also heads the James & Wells’ team specialising in medical technology. He is an Associate member of the Medical Technology Association of New Zealand (MTANZ) and provides regular seminars educating the New Zealand health-tech industry on the value of intellectual property.

He is a former Council Member of the New Zealand Institute of Patent Attorneys and is a representative on IPONZ’s Patents Technical Focus Group. Jonathan is also a regular contributor to New Zealand’s leading text on intellectual property law, Intellectual Property Law in New Zealand.

Jonathan has extensive experience drafting patent specifications for multi-national and local clients, handling prosecution of large patent portfolios, handling patent oppositions, advising on patent infringement and validity issues, particularly in relation to freedom to operate risks in New Zealand and Australia and providing clients with strategic IP advice. Jonathan also has experience of oral proceedings at IPONZ. Jonathan is ranked as a leading patent professional by IAM1000 and among the world’s top patent strategists by IAM 300.

Before starting at James & Wells in 2010, Jonathan has worked for other IP firms in New Zealand and the UK, and was also a Management Consultant for a multi-national company in the UK.

• Medical devices
• Physics (superconductors, space propulsion systems, seismic measurement systems)
• Software
• ICT
• AI and machine learning
• Data processing technologies
• Electronics
• Mechanical engineering
• Sporting equipment