Sharon Givoni

Sharon Givoni has over 20 years of experience in Intellectual Property (IP) and Commercial Law. She has clients Australia-wide and from all walks of life. She has also acted for overseas clients and has delivered talks on Australian IP Laws at international events.

Sharon has experience in both contentious and non-contentious matters. She assists businesses with drafting and negotiating commercial agreements such as assignments, licensing, confidentiality agreements, terms and conditions for websites, privacy policies for websites, employment agreements, distributorship agreements, business terms and conditions and the like. 

She also regularly prepares and files trade mark and design applications on behalf of her clients, and has conducted and advised on trade mark oppositions. She has represented clients in several IP infringement matters. She has experience in sending stern letters of demand and has ran matters in the Federal Court of Australia. Further, she has acted for clients in domain main disputes and has experience in preparing and negotiating a number of IT related agreements. 

She regularly helps clients to bring their products into the market by advising them on packaging and labelling laws and Australian consumer laws. She has advised clients on tobacco plain packaging laws and labelling laws for foods and children’s toys. 

She has delivered lectures and talks at various prestigious institutions such as RMIT, the University of Melbourne and Kangan Institute. She also provides in-house training on IP Laws to designers, marketing and advertising teams. She has her own signature program dedicated to IP training called “Swim between the Flags”.

Publications

• Owning It: A Creative’s Guide to Copyright, Contracts and the Law (Creative Minds Publishing Pty Ltd (2015)
• Internet Law Bulletin LexisNexis
• Privacy Law Bulletin LexisNexis
• Australian Intellectual Property Law Bulletin LexisNexis

Articles in various commercial print and digital publications

• Sharon has published over 100 articles on IP and commercial law.

Speaking Engagements

• Copyright in Social Media: Practical Risk Management (Melbourne 2016)
• Intellectual property, packaging and labelling (Melbourne 2016)
• Copyright in Social Media: Practical Risk Management (Melbourne 2016)
• Understanding Copyright for Creatives & Small Businesses (Sydney 2015)
• Intellectual Property, Packaging and Labelling (Melbourne 2015)
• The Law Made Easy for Creative Business (Sydney 2015)
• Conversation series: Legal Tips and Trade for Retailers Made Easy (Melbourne 2015)
• Understanding Copyright for Creatives & Small Businesses (Melbourne 2015)
• Brand Protection and Copyright Basics (Melbourne 2015)
• Copyright and Design Law for Creatives (Adelaide 2015)
• Creatives and the law – What you need to know (Brisbane 2015)
• Copyright & IP law… An essential course for creative people (Melbourne 2014)
• A Creative Guide to Copyright (Melbourne, 2013)
• Copyright, Contracts and the Law for Creatives with Sharon Givoni (Sydney, 2013)
• Copyright and Design Law for Makers and Craftspeople (Melbourne, 2013)

Tertiary institutions

RMIT

• Copyright & IP law: An Essential Course for Creative People. A four-week course aimed at graduate students offering an in-depth examination of copyright law.

Swinburne University – School of Design

• A lecture series for fashion design students explaining the legal aspects of the fashion and clothing manufacturing industry such as trade marks, domain names, copyright, patents and designs.

Melbourne Polytechnic

• The Art of Marketing and Self-Promotion: What is Worth Copying is Worth Protecting – an overview of intellectual property law for students.

Melbourne University

• A lecture series for students giving an overview of food and packaging laws

Professional Organisations & Memberships

Memberships:

• Law Institute of Victoria, Intellectual Property and IT Committee.
• Intellectual Property Society of Australia and New Zealand.
• Member of Creative Women’s Circle.
• Member of several industry associations in the areas of food and beverage, creative and industry groups.

Admissions:

• Supreme Court of Victoria (1996)