Spoor & Fisher

Spoor & Fisher has been a specialist IP firm since its formation in 1920. Since then it has developed into a firm of over 80 lawyers and IP specialists providing solutions across the full spectrum of intellectual property.

The firm assists its clients in obtaining and enforcing IP rights throughout the world through its close relationships with overseas IP agents and practitioners. It has close ties with a number of registries and associates across the African continent.

Spoor & Fisher's business values embrace unparallelled levels of expertise, inspired IP solutions, a genuine clientcentric approach and uncompromising quality without losing a sense of urgency. Having specialised in IP law internationally and locally for 92 years, Spoor & Fisher has built up considerable expertise in the law and practice pertaining to the protection, enforcement and exploitation of intellectual property across the world.

Spoor & Fisher's focus has always been on building a firm that can rival the best in the world. As with any professional services firm, its capabilities are built around its team of professional advisers. In addition to the strength created by the size of the team and its diversity of skills, the team has:
• a number of partners who have practised with distinction in Europe and North America;
• a proud tradition of being involved in many leading patent, trademark and copyright cases in South Africa;
• authored many of the leading textbooks on IP law in South Africa; and
• maintained its expertise at the leading edge of science and technology while expanding into exciting new areas such as biotechnology and nanotechnology.

The practice now has more than 80 lawyers and IP specialists and over 300 staff. The firm’s main offices are in South Africa and Jersey (Channel Islands). Its South African offices are in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Pretoria. It also have subsidiary offices in Gambia, Ghana, Malawi, OAPI (Cameroon) and Zambia.

Since its creation, Spoor & Fisher has been active across Africa. By the mid-1970s, the practice outside Southern Africa had grown to the extent that the African work had become a focus in its own right. This led to the establishment of Spoor & Fisher Jersey in 1977, with the initial objective of handling the ever-increasing African practice more effectively from a neutral base with good communications links. This practice now has five full-time directors/partners and more than 85 staff.

Apart from the main focus of filing and maintaining patents and trademarks across Africa, the firm's practice has seen significant growth in litigation in Africa. Indeed, there are over 1,000 active contentious matters (eg, oppositions and infringements) on the firm's files at any one time.

Spoor & Fisher is increasingly involved in matters in the Caribbean and the Middle East, and has built up substantial expertise in these jurisdictions. Where possible, Spoor & Fisher deals directly with local trademark and patent registries. However, it works with its own offices providing an extensive network of local employees and other contacts and associates spread across the continent. Spoor & Fisher also utilises an ever-growing network of agents to ensure superior filings throughout the continent.

With its years of practical experience and extensive contacts, the firm is ideally placed to assist both local and overseas clients in securing trademark and patent protection throughout Africa, the Caribbean and the Middle East.

As a firm, it honours the tradition of service excellence and professionalism, as well as having the courage to invent and champion unconventional solutions to problems. Its clients come first, leading to long-term business relationships with them.