Tracey Hendy

Tracey’s professional career encompasses over 30 years of experience in intellectual property law with a broad base of expertise in patents and designs, specialising in the complex mechanical arts and medical devices.

Tracey’s focus in medical technologies spans surgical devices, orthopaedics, cardiovascular and endovascular devices, medical diagnostic devices and instruments, microfluidics, diabetes monitoring, additive manufacturing, especially for medical prosthesis, laser eye surgery and robotic surgery.

Tracey is also regarded as an expert in utility models, particularly in Asia, with a special focus on the Southeast Asian region. This is in response to clients in the mechanical field looking for alternative and lower-cost protection strategies.

One of Tracey’s career successes includes drafting the original patent applications for the Formway Life chair, which went on to be the recipient of numerous awards including gold product award at the NeoCon furniture fair.

Additionally, Tracey partnered with Australian manufacturer Lucas Mill to successfully pursue an infringement of a Chinese patent resulting in successful outcomes at Qingdao Intermediate People’s Court and Shandong High Court and invalidation actions at SIPO (the Chinese Patent Office). This work captured media attention and saw Tracey appear on a national television broadcast, ABC’s Landline, about the Lucas Mill case.

Tracey’s focus lies in drilling into the legal aspects of patent law. As an avid reader of case law, Tracey regularly conducts case law sessions as new and challenging Federal Court decisions arrive in her inbox. This, coupled with her role as an author of Lahore (Chapter 3 of Lahore’s Patents, Trade Marks and Related Rights), which requires an indepth understanding of the intricacies of the Patents Act and Regulations, sees Tracey regarded as an expert on the patent system in Australia. Tracey is also the writer of over 30 technical articles published in the decade.

Tracey actively shares her specialist patent knowledge as a regular invited guest lecturer at two Melbourne universities and has travelled extensively in US, Europe and Japan providing lectures on Australian, New Zealand and Southeast Asian patent law to corporate clients and patent firms. Since 2020, Tracey has transitioned to an online environment to continue her schedule of technical presentations to international audiences.