Stephen Middleton is a partner and patent attorney at Von Seidels. He is known for his expertise in protecting complex, computer-implemented inventions in a range of territories for clients including universities and companies, from start-ups through to listed multinationals.

Before joining Von Seidels, Stephen completed a master’s degree in engineering within the University of Cape Town’s Radar Remote Sensing Group.

Stephen honed his skills drafting patent specifications for inventions related to mobile banking and payment technologies for an international payments organisation. He now practices more broadly and has experience in protecting: various artificial intelligence (AI) / machine learning (ML) related inventions; business methods; online/digital security-related inventions (such as for banking/finance apps and websites); distributed ledger and blockchain-related inventions; inventions relating to communication protocols or technologies (such as frequency hopping, error correction, HTTPS, etc.); digital watermarking techniques; inventions relating to social networks, and others.

In addition to his patent practice, Stephen formulates IP strategies and assists venture capitalists with IP due diligences. He also has experience copyright matters, particularly relating to software.

Stephen was named as a Thomson Reuters Stand-out Lawyer in 2025.