TWO partners at law firm DMH Stallard played leading roles at the annual International Bar Association conference in Sydney, Australia.

Intellectual Property Partner, James Martin, and Employment Partner, Tony Hyams-Parish, both led on key debates during the conference.

The IBA, established in 1947, is the world’s leading organisation of international legal practitioners, bar associations and law societies.

It influences the development of international law reform and shapes the future of the legal profession.

James co-chaired a discussion between intellectual property lawyers on unusual ‘non-traditional’ trade marks.

This follows one of James’ cases involving Philips and Remington and a long-running dispute concerning a trade mark for the shape of a three-headed rotary shaver.

The case, which went to the European Court of Justice, is Europe’s leading case on shape trade marks.

James said: “It was a great honour to be part of such a prestigious event on the legal calendar.

“I’m delighted Tony and I flew the flag for DMH Stallard and contributed to important debates involving contemporaries from around the world.”

Tony co-chaired the Discrimination and Equality Law Committee and is a Council Member of the Global Employment Institute and the IBA Diversity Council.

He chaired a panel discussion on global mobility on the first day of the conference and was involved in other events at the conference throughout the week.

Tony said: “These days many of our clients operate on a global basis and we are often asked for advice relating to the law in other jurisdictions.

“The close connections we make with lawyers at events like the IBA conference enable us to provide this type of support to our clients and, more importantly, means that we can source this advice from lawyers that we know and trust.”

DMH Stallard has offices in Brighton, Horsham and Gatwick.