Sam Mickan

Dr Sam Mickan is a Senior Fellow (Melbourne Law Masters) at Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne, and serves as a Principal Patent Attorney at Davies Collison Cave. He holds an adjunct Senior Lecturer appointment at the University of Adelaide’s School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering. His roles bridge academic law, legal practice, and engineering research.

Education: BA (German/History), BEng (Electrical and Electronic Engineering with Honours), PhD (Photonics) from the University of Adelaide, and a Master of Intellectual Property Law from the University of Melbourne. He is a Registered Patent and Trade Marks Attorney in Australia and New Zealand.

Research focuses on patent law, terahertz technology, biomedical devices, and ICT. Notable achievements include Australian Research Council Discovery grants, a University Medal for PhD research, a Tall Poppy Award, and a Fulbright Scholarship.

Professional expertise spans advising corporations, startups, and research institutions on patents across medical tech, aerospace, and software. He lectures on patent processes in Thomson Reuters’ ‘The Laws of Australia’ and has led research teams in Australia and the US.

Grants include multiple ARC Discovery grants. His legal work emphasizes patent eligibility in computer-implemented inventions and cross-sector intellectual property disputes.