Donna Short
Partner
"I love going on the journey with my clients. I am shoulder-to-shoulder with them, offering practical and strategic advice on how to protect, commercialise and turn their ideas into reality."
Donna is recognised as a leader in the fields of contentious and non-contentious intellectual property (IP). Her areas of expertise also include privacy and data protection, technology and Australian Consumer Law issues.
Clients from all industries call on her for assistance across the entire IP life cycle, from the initial innovation stage, identifying and protecting IP in Australia and internationally, commercialisation, and enforcing IP rights. Donna advises on issues involving trade marks, copyright, brand protection, domain name disputes, portfolio management and advertising compliance. She regularly acts in proceedings before IP Australia and the Federal Court.
Donna’s clients also rely on her experience to assist them with data protection and privacy issues including privacy compliance programmes, drafting privacy policies and consent documents, as well as advising on access requests, data breaches and transfer of data across jurisdictions.
Donna is known for her approachability and efficiency, and clients particularly value her open-minded, commercially astute and clear communication and advice.
Donna’s expertise in the area of IP is well recognised in Australia and internationally. Donna has been recognised in Chambers, The Legal 500 Asia Pacific, Who’s Who Legal and World Trademark Review. In 2023, Donna was ranked in Who’s Who Legal as a Global Leader in IP: Trade Marks and was recognised by Managing IP as an IP Star.
Australian manufacturer — drafted and negotiated a licensing agreement for an Australian manufacturer of hearing devices with a US-based global manufacturer and developer of advanced computerised diagnostic and hearing technologies.
Biotechnology company — advised a large Australian biotechnology company on an IP commercialisation project for patented diagnostic technology including preparation of the IP licensing agreement.
Fiber Sense Limited — advised on protection of its trade marks in Australia and various overseas jurisdictions including taken action to enforce its trade mark rights overseas.
Hemmes Trading Pty Limited (a company in the Merivale Group) — management of its trade mark portfolio, acting in respect of infringement actions and in opposition proceedings before IP Australia.
MoneyMe Financial Group Pty Ltd — assisted in obtaining trade mark protection for key brands in various jurisdictions and represented MoneyMe in trade mark opposition proceedings in Australia and overseas.
Norco Co-operative Ltd — advised on various trade mark matters including trade mark protection for a range of ice cream products in Australia and provided advice on regulatory compliance for the labels and packaging.
OFX Group Limited — management of its global trade mark portfolio and brand protection issues including enforcement of trade mark rights in Australia and overseas.
Health care provider group — advised a group of health care companies on privacy issues including preparation of privacy policies and consents.
Large Australian diversified property company — advised and negotiated an agreement with an Australian building products company for the licensing of copyright and patents to enable the design, manufacture and installation of prefabricated building systems.
Medical device company — advised on privacy issues in respect of a ransomware attack impacting the company’s operations in various jurisdictions.
Multi-national insurance company — advised on a data breach including undertaking an analysis of the breach to determine whether it was notifiable under Australia’s Notifiable Data Breach Scheme.
Recognition
Chambers Asia Pacific: Australia — Intellectual Property: Trade Mark & Copyright — 2012-2024
Chambers Global: Australia — Intellectual Property: Trade Mark & Copyright — 2012-2024
Doyle’s Guide — Leading Non-Contentious Intellectual Property Lawyers: Recommended — NSW — 2019-2023
Doyle’s Guide — Leading Trademark Lawyers: Recommended — NSW — 2017
Doyle’s Guide — Leading Commercial IP Lawyers: Recommended — NSW — 2016 & 2017
Managing IP — IP Stars: Top 250 Women in IP in global rankings — 2021
Managing IP — IP Stars Australia: Trade Mark Star — 2020-2024
The Legal 500 Asia Pacific — Intellectual Property: Recommended Lawyer — 2014&2015, 2017-2022
The Legal 500 Asia Pacific — Intellectual Property: Recognised Lawyer — 2024 - 2025
Who’s Who Legal — IP - Trademarks — 2019-2024
Who's Who Legal — Australia & New Zealand - IP - Trademarks — 2019-2024
World Trademark Review (WTR 1000) — Trademark Prosecution & Strategy, Australia — 2019-2024
World Trademark Review (WTR 1000) — Trademark Enforcement & Litigation, Australia — 2019-2024
World Trademark Review (WTR 1000) — Trademark Transactions, Australia — 2021 - 2024
Committees and memberships
Member, International Trade Mark Association (INTA)
Member, Intellectual Property Society of Australia and New Zealand (IPSANZ)
Member, Copyright Society of Australia
Practice Areas
Industries
Banking, Finance and Insurance
Entertainment
Financial Services
FMCG
Government
Health
Hospitality
Media
Pharmaceuticals
Professional Services
Retail
Social Media
Technology
Other areas of expertise
Australian Consumer Law issues
Commercialisation agreements
Compliance reviews for advertising campaigns
Domain name advice and disputes
Labelling
Registration and protection of designs
Qualifications
Bachelor of Economics/Laws, Macquarie University
“Donna is fantastic to work with, as she is a great communicator.” “Donna is very hands-on and listens intently to the client’s needs. She is extremely capable and always open minded to exploring a range of options with us.”
World Trademark Review (WTR1000) – 2024