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Paul Kirton
legal practice principal & director, commercial
meet Paulabout Paul
about Paul
Paul Kirton was an engineer before he was a lawyer. His work for more than 25 years has been intellectual property, trade and competition law, but the engineer’s love of finding new ways to solve problems and make things work, helps him achieve great results for his clients.
Paul’s clients vary from local manufacturers to national subsidiaries of global corporations. They all need guidance in the increasingly aggressive regulatory environment in Australia and competitive environment globally.
Paul works on the ground with his clients and knows what to do to protect their businesses or how to deal with a crisis, like a product recall. His ability to understand both the technical and legal side of the problem makes for a faster, more practical and commercially clever solution.
Paul is part of Macpherson Kelley’s Intellectual Property team, which has been ranked in The Legal 500 Asia Pacific guide. Macpherson Kelley is listed as a leading firm by the World Trademark Review 1000.
“Clients can rely on me to get things done in a practical and commercial way. I understand the technologies and business drivers that underpin their legal issues.”
Areas of Expertise
- Advertising and labelling law
- Commercial contracts
- Competition law and ACCC issues
- Consumer law
- Distribution/agency
- Franchising and licensing
- Family business succession and asset protection
- Information technology and it agreements
- Intellectual property licensing
- Intellectual property protection and enforcement
- International trade
- Personal properties securities
- Privacy
- Product standards, safety and health
- Trading terms and document
industries
additional qualifications
Registered Trade Mark Attorney
awards
publications
Media, advertising and entertainment law throughout the world (australian chapter, contributing author)
leadership positions
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Regional Chair (Asia Pacific), Board Member – Multilaw |
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Member – PrivacyRules |
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Board Member – Springvale Service for Children Inc |
recent experience
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non compliance nightmare
A manufacturer of leading after-market automotive products found itself with a whole host of problems when one its products was ruled non-compliant by the ACCC. They were facing prosecution, fines, recalls and relationship problems with both customers and distributors in Australia and overseas, not to mention safety and reputation issues. Paul developed a strategy with the client and worked through it with the ACCC to minimise the impact on the business. This meant gaining the ACCC’s approval from the beginning and working with stakeholders to recall the product then set up a compliance program for the future. Paul’s engineering knowledge helped narrow the scope of the recall to specific batches, recalling a few thousand products instead of over one hundred thousand. This saved significant time, money and risk for everyone involved. The client was happy not to have faced prosecution or safety issues and was especially pleased to have found the source of the problem.
