Partnership Structure

James & Wells Intellectual Property is the trading style of two separate partnerships, James & Wells Patent & Trade Mark Attorneys and James & Wells Lawyers. All of the partners of James & Wells Patent & Trade Mark Attorneys are registered patent attorneys and subject to the Code of Practice and disciplinary procedure of the Institute of Patent Attorneys. Similarly, all of the partners of James & Wells Lawyers are lawyers and, therefore, subject to the ethical constraints and disciplinary procedures of the New Zealand Law Society. Some of our partners are both registered patent attorneys and lawyers and are a partner in both practices.

A detailed breakdown of the respective partnerships is as follows:

For your security, money received from you or on your behalf other than in payment of invoices which we have already issued (for example money that you pay to us by way of a deposit for future work) will be held in a trust account operated by James & Wells Lawyers.

It has been necessary for us to adopt this dual partnership structure in order to comply with the requirements of the Lawyers & Conveyancers Act 2006 and the Patents Acts 1953, each of which reserves particular areas of work for lawyers and registered patent attorneys.

Generally speaking, all work associated with a patent will be conducted, or supervised, by a registered patent attorney. All work, generally speaking, related to an infringement of your rights, legal proceedings etc, will be conducted, or supervised, by a lawyer. Any other work is likely to be conducted, or supervised, by a person who is either a registered patent attorney or a lawyer (and possibly both).

If you are in any doubt as to whether the person you are dealing with is a lawyer or registered patent attorney, please feel free to clarify this with them, their supervising partner, or by accessing their qualifications via the “People” tab of this website.