Spoor & Fisher

Patent Mechanical

Herman van Schalkwyk is a Patent Attorney. He has BEng (Mech), LLB (cum laude) and MBA (cum laude) degrees, and is an Attorney of the High Court of South Africa.

Herman’s over 10 years at Spoor & Fisher have covered domestic and international patent and design matters, with a particular focus on the preparation and prosecution of patent and design applications within the mechanical, civil and general engineering fields. His experience also includes commercial transactions relating to IP, due diligence investigations, landscape analyses, and patentability and freedom to operate analyses.

Outside of his professional responsibilities, Herman has a keen interest in the management of organisations, particularly in leadership and strategy. He enjoys serving within the management structures of Spoor & Fisher.

Herman completed his BEng (Mechanical) degree at the University of Pretoria in 2007 and was offered a position as a candidate attorney with the firm the following year. While working full-time he studied towards his LLB degree though the University of South Africa and graduated with distinction in 2011. While completing his LLB degree Herman also completed the attorney admission examinations as well as the Patent Examination Board examinations, which allowed him to be admitted as an attorney of the High Court of South Africa and register as a patent attorney in 2011. Herman was subsequently made a partner of the firm in 2015. Herman has a keen interest in business and enrolled in 2016 for an MBA through the Henley Business School at the University of Reading in the UK. In 2018 he completed his MBA. From 2015 Herman has also served as the lecturer and examiner in South African Design Law at the Patent Examination Board and South African Institute of Intellectual Property Law.

Professional activities

Lecturer and examiner on SA design law: Patent Examination Board and SAIIPL, 2015 to date Member of Patent Law Committee and Design Law Committee at SAIIPL. Lecturer on design law and their industrial applications: WIPO Summer School, 2015 to date Speaker at Inventor Assistance Programme (IAP) Promotional Webinar, 2020 Speaker at IP and Technology Commercialisation Colloquium, 2019 Speaker on industrial design: IP 4 SME Workshop, 2018 Speaker on IP for start-ups: GCIP-SA National Academy, 2016-2017 Co-author of Lexology Chapter on Patents

English, Afrikaans

Fellow – South African Institute of Intellectual Property Law (SAIIPL) Member – International Federation of Intellectual Property Attorneys (FICPI) Member – American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) Member of the Southern African Research and Innovation Management Association (SARIMA) Member – Legal Practice Council (LPC)

BEng (Mechanical), LLB (Cum Laude), MBA (cum laude). Patent Attorney, Attorney of the High Court of South Africa

Herman enjoys spending his time away from the office in the outdoors, where he can be found camping, hiking or mountain-biking. He also enjoys adventures sports such as kite surfing.