The QANTM IP Group

QANTM Intellectual Property Limited (QANTM) is the owner of several leading intellectual property (IP) services businesses operating under the following brands (together, the QANTM IP Group):

The Davies Collison Cave Group comprises:

  • Davies Collison Cave Pty Ltd, an incorporated patent and trade mark attorney business operating in Australia and New Zealand (DCC);
  • Davies Collison Cave Law Pty Ltd, an incorporated legal practice operating in Australia (DCC Law);
  • Davies Collison Cave Asia Pte Ltd, an incorporated patent and trade mark attorney business operating in Singapore (DCC Asia)
  • DCC Hong Kong Ltd, an incorporated patent and trade mark attorney business operating in Hong Kong (DCC Hong Kong); and
  • DCC Advanz Malaysia Sdn Bhd (DCC Advanz), a specialist intellectual property advisory company operating in Malaysia.

FPA Patent Attorneys comprises:

  • FPA Patent Attorneys Pty Ltd, an incorporated patent attorney business operating in Australia and New Zealand (FPA); and
  • FPA Patent Attorneys Asia Pte Ltd, an incorporated patent attorney business operating in Singapore (FPA Asia).

Sortify.tm Limited is a New Zealand-headquartered trade mark legal technology company, that provides technology solutions incorporating artificial intelligence and automation to assist with filing of trade marks and management of trade mark portfolios.  It operates automated trade mark filing platforms in Australia (under the brand Trademarks Online), New Zealand (DIY Trademarks) and Malaysia (Trademarks Malaysia), and, through its subsidiary, Trademark Planet Ltd, the United Kingdom.

QANTM is owned by Fox BidCo Pty Ltd, a company owned and controlled by funds managed by Adamantem Capital.

QANTM IP Group: Professional conduct, ethical standards, and corporate governance

Many IP services firms in Australia have incorporated as companies, and a significant proportion (in excess of 25%) of registered patent attorneys in Australia and New Zealand are now employed by firms which are themselves part of corporate groups publicly listed on the ASX.

QANTM’s group structure brings significant benefits to clients and to QANTM employees, with a dual ethical and governance overlay:

  • Each of the businesses within the QANTM IP Group acts in accordance with the normal professional conduct rules and ethical standards applying to them as professional services providers.

The professional services businesses within the QANTM IP Group will always act in accordance with the law and in the best interests of their clients, and discharge their professional and ethical duties according to the following principles:

Primary duty to act in best interest of clients, and lawfully:

QANTM IP Group members will always prioritise their overriding duties to act in accordance with the law and in the best interests of their clients, over all other duties. There is never a right or expectation for any of these businesses, or the professionals employed by them, to act in the interests of QANTM or its shareholders in preference to clients’ interests. This is expressly recognized in QANTM’s Constitution.  The QANTM Constitution is available on the Governance Page of the QANTM website, and Article 4 establishes the primacy of these professional duties.

Conflict management:

The professional services businesses within the QANTM IP Group adhere strictly to the law, professional standards, ethical rules and duties, including the Code of Conduct for Trans-Tasman Patent and Trade Marks Attorneys, in managing actual and potential conflicts of interest.  DCC, DCC Law, FPA and Sortify are also members of an “ownership group” for the purposes of the Code of Conduct (the QANTM Ownership Group).  Consistent with the requirements of the Code of Conduct, where a registered attorney within the QANTM Ownership Group is aware that a client of another registered attorney within the QANTM Ownership Group is involved in a matter before a court, tribunal, IP office or similar adjudicative body, and the clients’ interests are adverse, that registered attorney will only act where its client has given, in writing, its informed consent to the registered attorney so acting.

Lawyers’ professional conduct rules:

Employees of Davies Collison Cave Law Pty Ltd, and employees of other QANTM IP Group members who hold legal practising certificates, act in addition in accordance with professional conduct rules and ethical standards applying to legal practitioners.

The Davies Collison Cave Group, FPA Patent Attorneys and Sortify.tm Ltd also operate from physically separate premises.