Spoor & Fisher

Trade Mark Enforcement

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.

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

English, Afrikaans  

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)

BCom Law, LLB. (University of Stellenbosch). Attorney of the High Court of South Africa.

John is a keen archer and avid hiker.