Mr John Foster > Spoor & Fisher > Pretoria, South Africa > Lawyer Profile
Spoor & Fisher Offices
11 BYLS BRIDGE BOULEVARD, BUILDING NO.14
HIGHVELD EXT 73, CENTURION
PRETORIA, 0157
South Africa
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Mr John Foster
Work Department
Trade Mark Enforcement
Position
John Foster is a Trade Mark Attorney with BCom (Law) and LLB degrees. He is an Attorney of the High Court of South Africa.
John specialises in domestic and foreign trade mark prosecution and trade mark, copyright and unlawful competition litigation. This includes trade mark oppositions, trade mark and copyright infringement claims, domain name disputes and company name objections.
John has a keen interest in advertising law and has been involved in numerous litigious matters before various advertising regulatory bodies, in South Africa and various African countries. He regularly provides advertising pre-clearance advice to a number of multinational companies. John also deals with commercial IP transactions, licensing arrangements and due diligence investigations.
Career
John completed his Bachelor in Commerce (BCom) at the University of Stellenbosch in 2008 before going on to study his LLB, which he completed in 2010, winning a prize for the top student in the subject of Intellectual Property. John was admitted as an attorney of the High Court in 2013, after having served articles at Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr Inc. and Spoor & Fisher as an Associate, John qualified as a Trade Mark Practitioner and, in 2015, was appointed to the position of Senior Associate. John was appointed as a Partner of Spoor & Fisher in March 2017.
Professional activities
- Co-author of the Unlawful Competition chapter in Dean & Dyer: Introduction to Intellectual Property Law (Oxford University Press), 2014
- Co-author of the Sponsorship and Marketing Agreements chapter in International Business Transactions (Kluwer Law), 2016, 2018
Market Recognition
- Listed – WTR1000: Trade Mark Enforcement and Litigation, 2019-present
- Rising Star to Watch – Managing Intellectual Property IP Stars, 2017, 2020-2021
Languages
English, Afrikaans
Memberships
- Fellow – South African Institute of Intellectual Property Law (SAIIPL)
- Member – Southern African Research and Innovation Management Association (SARIMA)
- Member – International Trade Mark Association (INTA)
- Chair – INTA Famous & Well-Known Trademarks Social Media Subcommittee
- Member – INTA Global Advisory Council: Africa
- Member – Franchise Association of South Africa (FASA)
- Associate Member – Corporate Counsel Association of South Africa (CCASA)
Education
BCom Law, LLB. (University of Stellenbosch). Attorney of the High Court of South Africa.
Leisure
John is a keen archer and avid hiker.
Lawyer Rankings
South Africa > Intellectual property
(Next Generation Partners)At Spoor & Fisher, Marco van der Merwe oversees the trade marks team, Mohamed Khader heads up the anti-counterfeiting team, and Dirk Hanekom fronts the patents team. Eben van Wyk specialises in IP litigation, and has a solid track record in advising on copyright, trade mark, and domain name disputes. Trade mark enforcement issues are prominent in Zama Buthelezi‘s and Merlene Engelbrecht‘s workloads, and John Foster brings experience in handling unlawful competition claims, copyright and trade mark infringement claims, as well as commercial IP transactions. Patent matters are a key area of strength for Dina Biagio and Tyron Grant.