You may be familiar with Michael Caine as Vice President of the FICPI Bureau and through his role this year as World Congress Programme Manager. Or perhaps from his four years prior to that as Vice President of FICPI’s Study & Work Committee (CET) or his many years as the Chair of the International Patents Group of the CET.
It’s an understatement to say he’s an active member of FICPI, combining that effortlessly with being Principal of Davies Collison Cave Pty Ltd in Australia.
As part of FICPI's celebration of World IP Day 2025, whose theme is “Celebrating the beat of IP in music”, we interviewed a number of FICPI members for whom music is dear to their professional and personal interests.
Do you know about Michael’s musical past? And present!
Being an IP attorney comes with its pressures and Michael finds listening to music, particularly the music of JS Bach, to be very therapeutic.
Michael first got involved with music in 1985 when his father started a folk band and asked him to be their singer guitar player, he stayed with the band until 1991.
Travelling to play at gigs in London and Ireland from Australia in 1991 were standout moments from that period.
Michael reminisces, “We played at several venues, some of which may still be in existence. The ones I remember were the Lord Nelson Hotel in Holloway Rd, the Clapham Clock House, The Half Moon, Archway Tavern and Biddy Mulligans.”
Another highlight from that era was playing support for the Fureys, and Foster and Allen when they toured the Australian state of Victoria.
Before his father’s band, Michael’s only musical performance had been when he played cornet in his school band.
Australian Record Industry Award nomination
In 1991 he joined a Melbourne Irish folk band that became “The Celts” and played with them until 2000. They recorded a couple of albums: The Celts, and Rocky Road.
Michael remembers, “Rocky Road was nominated for an Australian Record Industry Award (ARIA) in 1995 in the World Music category.
“We also had the pleasure of playing support for a number of touring Irish artists, including Christy Moore, Andy Irvine and Arty McGlynn. The Christy Moore gig was most memorable as it was in the Melbourne Concert Hall, and it was a sell-out crowd.”
From chemistry PhD to IP
Although Michael doesn’t practice intellectual property in the field of music technology, he did move into the IP profession from the musical field.
He had deferred his PhD in chemistry to join The Celts and was debating whether to finish his PhD or to get a job in the field of chemistry.
A tip off led to Michael securing an opportunity for a chemist to become a trainee patent attorney in 1989.
In 2012 he managed to integrate his music with his IP work through a FICPI Congress in Melbourne where he met up with fellow FICPI members and musicians, Alan Aucoin and Julian Crump.
Michael reminisces, “We ended up getting our instruments out and playing some music together on the banks of the Yarra River near the conference hotel. This tradition of getting together and playing music at FICPI events continued until the FICPI Congress in Toronto in 2018 where a room was set up in the conference hotel for Alan and myself to play music while drinks were served.
“The Toronto Congress was also the time I got to watch some other FICPI friends and musicians play their instruments at a reception held by PCKIP. Various FICPI-Canada members got up to play, including Steve Perry from PCKIP and Robert Storey from Bereskin & Parr on guitars, with John Knox from Smart & Bigger on drums. Unfortunately, Alan Aucoin retired to Nova Scotia after the Toronto Congress and wet haven’t played together since. He still sends me a message when he buys a new guitar for his collection, though!”
And Michael’s love of playing and listening to music continues to this day.
He shares, “I played my first gig for 2 years on 14 March 2025 with my brother, John, and cousin, Geoff. It turns out I still love to perform!”
Check out The Celts’ albums on online music services, such as Spotify™ and maybe look out for Michael in action at this year’s World Congress in Naples!
Next steps
- If you are interested in getting involved with FICPI's committees and working parties, find out more at: https://ficpi.org/organisation/committees
- If you're not yet a FICPI member, apply using our current accelerated process, in time to join us at the FICPI World Congress in Naples, Italy in October 2025.
