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| Founded in 1888 as Swanson & Rolingson and then renamed Phillips, Ormonde & Co when Edwin Phillips acquired the practice in 1892 the firm has a long and proud history in Australia and is now considered one of Australia’s leading patent and trade mark attorney firms. We have had the pleasure of working with some of the largest companies in Australia to register their patents, trade marks and designs.
Over the years through Edwin Philips' directorships of several prominent Victorian companies and his extensive engineering background and his interest in intellectual property law the firm grew.
Edwin also was a member of the British Chartered Institute of Patent Agents, and his contact with the British profession contributed to Phillips, Ormonde & Co. quickly becoming well known overseas, as well as in Australia.
Cecil LePlastrier and Victor Kelson joined the firm in the early 1900s and when they became partners of the firm the firm name was changed to Phillips Ormonde LePlastrier & Kelson.
Under the guidance of Cecil LePlastrier, the partnership expanded in 1938 to include both Geoffrey Sly and Bertram C Fitzpatrick. Through their period together, Sly and Fitzpatrick led the firm to develop its strong reputation for reliable and quality service, especially with international corporate clients and attorney associates overseas.
Under Bertram C Fitzpatrick, the firm's current name of Phillips Ormonde & Fitzpatrick was adopted in 1967.
From 1952 to 1972 Bertram C Fitzpatrick played a major role in managing the firm and leading its development and expansion to the professional strength which is its foundation today. His forceful character and unflagging energies were applied to recruitment, professional training and the day-to-day operation of the firm. He instituted an in-house training system which is carried on to this day, worked diligently to maintain and further client relationships and also to build the sound financial foundation required for a major professional firm.
David B Fitzpatrick has been Senior Partner of the firm since 1972. During this period, the size of the Partnership, staff, office and business have increased sixfold. Heavily involved in administration in his first ten years as a Partner, David led the introduction of modernised office systems and procedures, recruitment and training methods, and finance and accounting systems. He modernised and enlarged the partnership structure, and had a major involvement in the selection and design of the large modern offices occupied by the firm over the past twenty years. He guided the firm in its transition to more modern management practices through the creation of a Management Committee and Chairman, appointment of a Managing Partner, adoption of electronic communications, and an almost entirely electronically operated office.
Today Phillips Ormonde & Fitzpatrick has offices in Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide and New Zealand. We now employ over 130 people across these states and have over the years expanded to cover all key areas of technology servicing a diverse range of clients both large and small within Australia and globally.
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