Matthew
Howe

Principal and Senior Patent Attorney | B. Tech (Optoelectronics), M.Sc. (Physics)
Auckland, New Zealand
PatentsTrade Marks
  • Patent drafting and prosecution across electronics, software and advanced engineering technologies
  • AI, machine learning, embedded systems, telecommunications, optics and automotive technologies
  • Strategic IP portfolio development and management
  • Enforcement of IP rights and litigation strategy
  • Trade mark registration and brand protection
  • Commercially focused IP strategy informed by real-world business experience
  • Bachelor of Science in Optoelectronics, University of Auckland
  • Master of Science in Physics, University of Auckland
  • Registered Trans-Tasman Patent Attorney (AU and NZ)
  • Registered Trans-Tasman Trade Marks Attorney
Get in touch with Matthew

Matt advises clients on building, asserting and defending global patent portfolios across technically demanding sectors, including electronics and embedded systems, software, AI and machine learning, power management, telecommunications, optics and automotive technologies.

His clients range from startups to multinational technology companies across New Zealand, Australia and the United States. As lead contact and senior attorney, he takes responsibility for each portfolio from start to finish, so clients deal directly with the person doing the work and with someone who carries the full history of the matter if it later becomes contentious.

What distinguishes Matt is a perspective that goes beyond legal practice. Having founded, run and exited a technology company of his own, he understands IP from the inside: how it is built, how it is valued and how it performs under commercial pressure. That experience shapes everything from how he approaches a patent specification to how he advises on portfolio strategy, and it means he engages with founders, engineers and boards as someone who has sat on their side of the table.

He works as an extension of his clients’ engineering and product teams rather than waiting for a formal brief, taking part in design reviews, helping capture inventions as they emerge, and raising freedom to operate questions early enough for the design to be adjusted if needed. His focus is on identifying the innovations genuinely worth protecting and turning them into IP that supports the product roadmap, strengthens the next funding round and holds its value as the business scales internationally.

Matt’s IP strategy work received the strongest endorsement from Dennemeyer, the global IP management and consulting firm, in a commissioned due diligence review.

Matt’s own background is hands-on and technical. His work developing electronic systems for motorsport applications reflects the same engineering curiosity and depth he brings to every client matter.

Work highlights

  • A trusted extension of a New Zealand agritech company’s in-house IP team, supporting its attorneys and counsel on strategic IP decisions and leading the work product behind its growing international patent portfolio.
  • Works as part of an Australian clean-energy company’s in-house IP function, advising on strategy and leading the drafting and prosecution that protects its core hardware and software innovation across international markets.

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