Chris Bird

Chris Bird is a highly experienced patent attorney with more than 25 years’ experience helping technology-focused businesses identify, protect and commercialise innovation.

Chris specialises in patents for electrical and electronic engineering, computer hardware and software, medical technology, healthcare technology, diagnostics, telecommunications, signal processing and complex engineering solutions. He works with Australian and international clients ranging from start-ups, universities and research organisations to established technology companies, helping protect and commercialise research-led innovation and technology.

With qualifications as a registered Trans-Tasman Patent Attorney, UK Patent Attorney and European Patent Attorney, Chris brings an international perspective to patent protection. His previous experience as a patent examiner at the European Patent Office gives him particular insights into how patent offices assess inventions and thus how to best navigate the path to the strongest and most effective patent rights.

Chris’ technical expertise covers a range of areas of innovation, including those at the intersection of hardware and data processing. These areas of specialisation include:

• Medical devices, healthcare technology, diagnostics and implantable technologies — including diagnostic instruments, point-of-care and sensor-based devices, endoprosthetics, orthopaedic and surgical technologies, implantable devices and systems that convert biological, physiological or physical signals into clinically useful information.
• Imaging, audio and signal processing — including tomography, image reconstruction, diagnostic image analysis, audio processing, sensor signal interpretation, feature extraction and applied algorithms for deriving meaningful technical outputs from complex signals.
• Software and computer-implemented inventions — including embedded software, digital platforms, e-commerce technologies, data processing systems, networked applications and software-enabled technologies requiring a clear articulation of technical effect and patentable contribution.
• Sensing, instrumentation, telecommunications and electronic systems — including sensor architectures, signal acquisition and conditioning, connected devices, IoT systems, digital communications, electronic control systems and hardware/software interfaces.
• Agricultural technology, automation and robotics — including precision agriculture, remote sensing, drone technologies, agricultural robotics, autonomous farming, controlled-environment farming, crop and livestock monitoring, and decision-support systems that integrate sensors, machinery and data analytics.
• Automotive engineering and electromechanical control — including vehicle systems, actuation technologies, embedded controllers, power electronics, power control and switching systems, safety-critical control loops and electromechanical platforms.
• Manufacturing, processing and industrial technologies — including industrial automation, production equipment, process control, materials handling, monitoring systems, machine control and technologies directed to improving reliability, throughput, precision or scalability.
• Offshore engineering, hydraulics, construction and building technologies — including hydraulic and fluid power systems, offshore and subsea technologies, mechanical infrastructure, construction systems, building products and heavy engineering solutions for demanding operating environments.

Clients value Chris’ ability to combine technical depth with clear, commercially focused advice. He works closely with innovators, founders, in-house legal teams and overseas attorneys to develop patent strategies that align with business objectives, competitive positioning and future commercial opportunities.

Before relocating to Australia in 1998, Chris worked in the patents department of a leading UK technology transfer organisation, where he assisted universities and research institutes with substantial R&D projects. That experience continues to inform his work with research-led businesses, universities, research organisations and early-stage technologies, particularly where patent protection is central to investment, collaboration or technology commercialisation.

Chris has also written extensively on patent law and has been invited to speak by numerous organisations on intellectual property law and practice. His background in engineering, European patent examination, international patent practice and technology commercialisation gives clients a distinctive combination of technical expertise, strategic judgement, and practical commercial insight.