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 MedTech and medical devices spans surgical devices, orthopaedics including knee and hip replacement devices and techniques, cardiovascular devices including catheters, stents and stent delivery mechanisms, endovascular devices, medical diagnostic devices and instruments including aspects of chromatography and mass spectrometry, microfluidics, blood and sample collection devices, diabetes monitoring, additive manufacturing, especially for medical prosthesis, laser eye surgery including cataract surgery, intraocular lenses, robotic surgery, brachytherapy devices, cervical treatment devices and methods, foetal monitoring devices and systems, renal stents.

As a display of commitment to the Australian MedTech community, Tracey co-authored a workshop The MedTech Edge: Integrating IP and Commercialisation which has been run at multiple universities in 2023/24. The workshop, focussing on the intertwined aspects of IP and commercialisation for the MedTech product life-cycle, took over a year to develop, demonstrating Tracey’s commitment and passion for teaching and training, which has been a feature of her career.

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.

Tracey also 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 is an avid reader of case law, as new and challenging Federal Court decisions arrive in her inbox and is an author of Lahore (Chapter 3 of Lahore’s Patents, Trade Marks and Related Rights) covering, the intricacies of the Australian Patents Act and Regulations.

Other fields of experience:

• Mechanical engineering and manufacturing
• Automotive and agricultural engineering
• Industrial and manufacturing equipment
• Mining and resources
• Security systems
• Civil engineering
• Building construction
• Pneumatic and hydraulic engineering, pumps
• Electro-mechanical components
• Consumer products and design
• Commercial furniture systems
• Gaming machine systems
• Food manufacturing