We have a number of highly experienced specialists in the ARUNA team and all of our work is overseen by our Director, Shaun Creighton, who is a Registered Trade Mark Attorney.

The ARUNA Team

Shaun Creighton, Director and Registered Trade Mark Attorney

Shaun is the Head of Practice at ARUNA and is dual qualified as both a solicitor and a Registered Trade Mark Attorney (registered with the Australian Government’s Professional Standards Board for Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys). He has extensive experience in all aspects of drafting, filing and prosecuting trade mark applications as well as undertaking third party opposition proceedings in relation to applications.

As a person coming from an elite athletics background, Shaun has a keen awareness of not just the significance of trade marks as such, but also the wider strategic issues of branding, sponsorship and commercialisation. In addition to his already-extensive knowledge of trade marks and brand matters in the sports and entertainment field, over the years, Shaun has also developed expertise in specialist trade mark areas (e.g. collective and certification marks) and other sectors (e.g. wine).

James O’Connell, Trade Mark Assistant

Working under Shaun’s direction, James is a qualified solicitor who is working towards Registered Trade Mark Attorney status. Prior to joining Aruna, James worked as an Examiner of Trade Marks at IP Australia where he gained superb firsthand experience in the trade mark application and registration process.

Today, James works together with the rest of the Aruna Team to provide clients with vital insights into a wide range of issues affecting trade mark filing, application and opposition processes. James also handles registered designs searching and filing work.

Gary Lea, Trade Mark Consultant (Overseas & International)

After emigrating from the UK, Gary was Senior Lecturer in Business Law (School of Business, UNSW, ADFA, Canberra) from 2004 to 2007; before that, he was a Senior Research Fellow & Lecturer at the Queen Mary Intellectual Property Research Institute, University of London and an international consultant to a number of private and public sector clients.

Gary has written, researched and consulted extensively in the trade mark area (most recently as co-author of Firth, Lea & Cornford, “Trade Marks: Law & Practice”, 2nd edn. (UK, EU and International)) and he currently consults to the firm principally in issues arising in relation to overseas and international trade mark applications.