Intellectual Property law
Protecting your Intellectual Property (IP) is our priority. Our experience and dynamic team of attorneys will ensure that your creativity is richly rewarded and help you to protect your IP portfolio and enforce you IP rights worldwide.Our services include:
1Trademarks
- A trademark is a word mark, logo, or slogan which is intended to distinguish goods and/or services of one company from the goods and/or services of another, thereby protecting your brand.
- To find out more about trademarks and how the process is followed to apply and register a trademark, visit our handy Trademark Guide.
-
Our experienced and dynamic team of attorneys can assist with the following aspects related to trademarks:
- Registrability searches (in South Africa and anywhere else in the world)
- Filing trademark applications (in South Africa and anywhere else in the world)
- Defending and prosecuting trademark applications through to registration
- Domain name registrations
- Maintenance and renewal of existing trademark rights
- Assignment of trademarks
- Trademark licenses
- Litigation and enforcement of trademark rights
- Oppositions to proposed new trademark filings
- Trademark infringement
- Trademark valuations for (but not limited to) sale of IP or obtaining finance or due diligence in commercial transaction
2Patents
- A patent protects ideas/inventions that are new, inventive, and capable of being used in trade, industry, and agriculture. It provides the right to exclude others from making, using, selling, offering for sale, or importing the patented invention for the term of the patent.
- Our experienced and dynamic team of attorneys can assist with the following aspects related to patents:
- Novelty/Patentability searches
- Freedom-to-operate searches
- Filing and prosecuting patent applications (in South Africa and anywhere else in the world)
- Maintenance and renewal of existing patent rights
- Amendments to existing patents
- Litigation and enforcement of patent rights
3Copyright
- Copyright law protects artistic works, literary works, musical works, cinematograph films, and computer programmes. Copyright protection affords the copyright owner certain exclusive rights which enable them to exploit the copyright work for financial gain and to stop the unauthorised exploitation by third parties.
-
Our experienced and dynamic team of attorneys can assist with the following aspects related to copyright:
- Opinions/legal advice pertaining to copyright
- Registration of copyright in cinematograph films and movies
- Copyright licenses and other agreements related thereto
- Copyright assignments
- Litigation and enforcement of copyright
- Escrow services for purposes of assignment of copyright works
- Computer programme valuations for, but not limited to, sale of IP or obtaining finance or due diligence in commercial transactions
4Designs
- A registered design provides protection for the visual features of a product/article (for example the shape, pattern, configuration, and/or ornamentation).
-
Our experienced and dynamic team of attorneys can assist with the following aspects related to designs:
- Preparing and filing new registered design applications (in South Africa and anywhere else in the world)
- Prosecuting registered design applications to registration (in South Africa and anywhere else in the world)
- Maintenance and renewal of existing patent rights
5IP – exchange control and taxation
Our team is able to provide appropriate advice on exchange control and taxation in terms of IP where any IP forms part of an international commercial transaction or the restructuring of a business (cross-border) and/or exploitation of international markets through the use of certain IP.