Vodacom "Please Call Me" - CC Judgment

The recent Constitutional Court judgment can be viewed as nothing other than a rare victory for the underdog. Whilst the issues before the court were not strictly intellectual property law issues, the matter is certainly an interesting one for innovators and inventors. The majority of ordinary South Africans are aware that intellectual property exists, but have no knowledge about the types of intellectual property that exist in South Africa, when they apply or what can be done to register or enforce their intellectual property rights.  In the context of the number of disputes that are adjudicated by South African courts on a daily basis, the percentage of disputes that are based on intellectual property law is very small. That having been said, disputes arise all the time but most are settled between the parties before they go as far as getting to court.