Firm recognitions

• Top tier Australian firm for patent and technology licensing. IAM Licensing 250 – The World’s Leading Patent & Technology Licensing Lawyers. October 2011

• Top tier Australian firm for patent prosecution work and second tier for patent contentious work. Asia IP Patent Survey. March 2011

• Top tier Australian firm for patent and trade mark prosecution work. Managing Intellectual Property IP Survey. February 2011.
• Highly recommended in 2011 PLC Which Lawyer? in Intellectual Property area of practice. January 2011.
• Trademarks Law Firm of the Year. Winner. DealMakers Annual Awards. December 2010
• Top tier Australian firm in Asia IP patent rankings. November/December 2009.
• Best Patent Attorney and Trade Mark Firm. Winner. BRW Client Choice Awards. March 2009
• Top tier firm for patent and trade mark prosecution work. Managing Intellectual Property IP Survey. February 2009.
• Recommended in 2009 PLC Which lawyer? in Intellectual Property and Life sciences areas of practice. February 2009.
• Intellectual Property Specialist Firm of the Year. Finalist. ALB Australasian Law Awards. April 2008.
• Australian firm of the year. Shortlisted. Managing Intellectual Property. March 2008.
• Top tier firm for patent and trade mark prosecution work. Managing Intellectual Property IP Survey. February 2008.
• Intellectual Property Specialist Firm of the Year. Finalist. ALB Australasian Law Awards. April 2007.
• Top tier firm for patent and trade mark prosecution work. Managing Intellectual Property IP Survey. February 2007.

Individual recognitions

John Afaras - John’s expertise has been recognised internationally by publications such as Guide to the World’s Leading Patent Law Practitioner’s, Best Lawyers International and, most recently, John was listed as one of the Australia's top lawyers by the Australian Financial Review. In 2008 John was listed as one of the leading IP Lawyers in Australia by Australasian Legal Business Australia. John is also recommended in 2009 PLC Which lawyer in IP: non-patent litigation category.

Andrew Blattman, PhD - Andrew has been recommended for the past few years in PLC Which lawyer? in Life sciences: patent counselling category. Andrew has also received nominations in recent editions of Emerald's Who's Who, Presidential Who's Who, Strathmore's Who's Who and The Global Directory of Who's Who publications.

Simon Williams - Simon has been consistently recognised by his peers as one of the world’s leading patent and trademark lawyers in international publications such as Managing Intellectual Property's World IP Contacts Handbook, Guide to Leading Patent Law Experts and 2010 Guide to the World's Leading Trade Mark Law Practitioners; Practical Law Company’s The Law and Leading Lawyers Worldwide, Chambers Global, IP Professionals Asia Pacific Legal 500, The International Who ’s Who of Business Lawyers, The International Who's Who of Trademark Lawyers 2010 and ALB: Intellectual Property Guide.

Other recent recognitions include the listing of Simon Williams as one of the Australia's top lawyers in the Australian Financial Review, being highly recommended in the 2009 PLC Which lawyer? publication (IP: patent litigation and Life sciences section), as well as receiving nominations in 2010 for Cambridge's Who's Who, Asia Leading Lawyers and the International Who's Who Among Executives and Professionals.

Important Publications

• Also released in 2008 was the 4th Edition of Shanahan’s Australian Law of Trade Marks. Originally written by Dan Shanahan, Principal of Spruson & Ferguson from 1967-1999, the fourth edition of this seminal work describes the significant changes in trade mark law in recent years. The 4th edition, co authored by current Spruson and Ferguson Principals Annette Freeman and Tracey Berger, as well as Professor Davison, builds on the success of the previous edition authored by Kate Johnston and Patricia Kennedy, past Principals of Spruson & Ferguson.
• In 2008 Spruson & Ferguson was pleased to announce the publication of the text Patent Law in Australia written by Colin Bodkin, former Principal and now consultant to Spruson & Ferguson.
• In February 2009, Spruson & Ferguson was proud to announce the release of the electronic publication Intellectual Property Manual for the Engineering Team. The manual, which is a joint effort of Engineers Australia and Spruson & Ferguson, is aimed to provide assistance in relation to IP issues at the various levels within an engineering organisation.
• In October 2008, the Victorian State Government Minister for Innovation, launched the Biotechnology Intellectual Property Management Manual, a joint project between AusBiotech Ltd, the Victorian Government and Spruson & Ferguson. 
• We produced the Intellectual Property Management: A Practical Guide for Electrical and Electronics Related Industries, developed as an initiative of the Commonwealth Electronics Industry Action Agenda in 2007.
• We were selected to prepare the Australian Government IP Manual for the Australian Government Agencies by the Attorney-General’s Department in 2006.
• We developed the Biotechnology IP Management Manual commissioned by Biotechnology Australia, in 2001.

Official Positions

• David Griffith, Managing Principal, is Immediate Past President of the Institute of Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys of Australia (IPTA)
• Lee Pippard, Principal, serves as a Vice-President of the Committee of the Australian Group of the Asian Patent Attorneys Association (APAA)
• Greg Gurr, Principal, serves as a Councillor of the Institute of Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys of Australia (IPTA)