Vanessa Ferguson, one of the leading anti-counterfeiting specialists in Africa has joined Von Seidels as a partner.

Vanessa has over 20 years’ experience in cross-border, pan-African IP enforcement and is the co-author of “Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights in Africa” (Oxford University Press), the leading textbook on IP enforcement and anti-counterfeiting in Africa.

Vanessa is a member and past-chair of the International Trademark Association’s (INTA) Middle-East and Africa Anti-Counterfeiting Committee. She served as the president of the South African Institute of Intellectual Property Law (SAIIPL) in 2019 and 2020.

Von Seidels managing partner, Bastiaan Koster says “We are really excited to have Vanessa heading up our anti-counterfeiting initiatives. Vanessa comes with a wealth of experience in trade mark and IP enforcement in Africa. The addition of Vanessa and her team is timely now that our offices in Nigeria, Namibia (ARIPO) and Cameroon (OAPI) are all fully operational. With Vanessa, the firm can confidently claim to be one of the leading anti-counterfeiting establishments in South Africa and Africa.”

According to Vanessa, “Von Seidels has an excellent reputation as one of the leading IP firms in the African region. I am excited to be leading its anti-counterfeiting practice and building on the successes that the firm has achieved.”