Mr Jonathan Whittaker > Spoor & Fisher > Pretoria, South Africa > Lawyer Profile

Mr Jonathan Whittaker

+27 12 676 1026 j.whittaker@spoor.com View profile View profile View profile View profile

Work Department

Patent Litigation

Position

Jonathan is a partner of Spoor & Fisher and the chairperson of the partnership. He specialises in intellectual property litigation and opinion work. His areas of expertise include patents, designs, technical copyright, unlawful competition and plant breeders’ rights. Jonathan has extensive litigation experience in a broad spectrum of fields including the mechanical, mining, metallurgical, construction, electrical, electronics, telecommunications, medical, chemical and pharmaceutical fields.

Career

Jonathan obtained his BSc in Engineering (Civil) from The University of the Witwatersrand (WITS) in 1991, and thereafter worked for two years as an engineer on a large construction project.  He joined Spoor & Fisher in January 1994 as a candidate attorney, and simultaneously commenced his studies in law.  Jonathan obtained his BProc degree from the University of South Africa (UNISA) in 1996 and was awarded his LLB degree from the same university in 1997.  He qualified as an attorney and a patent attorney in 1997.  Jonathan initially worked in the firm’s mechanical department where he specialised in patent prosecution.  In 1999 he was appointed an associate of Spoor & Fisher, and he was promoted to equity partner of the firm in 2000.  Jonathan joined the patent litigation department of Spoor & Fisher during the course of 2000 where he has specialised in litigation for the past 17 years.  He has been a member of various committees of Spoor & Fisher and the South African Institute of Intellectual Property Law.  He has served as Chair of the firm’s Executive Committee and the firm’s Remuneration Committee since December 2009.  Jonathan has been an examiner for the Patents Examinations Board and is currently the moderator for the drafting of patent specifications.

Professional activities

Co-author of South African chapter on International Intellectual Property Law (Centre for Legal Studies).

Lecturer on practical legal problems: Patent Examination Board, 2019.

Lecturer and moderator on drafting of patent specifications: Patent Examination Board, 2003-2019.
  

Market Recognition

Listed in the Who’s Who Legal Patent editions 2011 – 2020.

Listed in IAM’s World’s Leading Patent Practitioners in 2012 – 2020.

Listed in IAM’s Global Leaders 2020-2021

Listed in the Managing Intellectual Property IP Stars 2014 – 2021.

Chambers Global: The World’s Leading Lawyers Intellectual Property: Patents (Band 2: 2019 – 2020); (Band 3: 2016 – 2018)

Jonathan is listed as one of the World’s Leading Practitioners in Euromoney’s Expert Guides – Patents 2016 – 2020.

Legal 500 EMEA ranks Jonathan as one of South Africa’s Intellectual Property Law experts 2019.

Languages

English, Afrikaans  

Memberships

Fellow of the South African Institute of Intellectual Property Law (SAIIPL).

Member of the Law Society of South Africa (LSSA).

Member of the International Bar Association (IBA).

Member of the International Federation of Intellectual Property Attorneys (FICPI).

Member of the South African Institution of Civil Engineering (SAICE).

Member of the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA).

Member of the Legal Practice Council (LPC).

Education

BSc (Civil Eng), BProc, LLB and PGDip OL. Patent Attorney, Attorney of the High Court of South Africa.