Full Profile
Natalie advises clients on brand inception, registration, protection, and enforcement.
Natalie advises clients from the inception of a brand, creating a brand protection strategy and conducting trade mark clearance searches. She assists in prosecuting those trade marks from filing to registration and then in enforcing those trade marks through trade mark oppositions and infringement lawsuits, online brand enforcement including domain name complaints, intellectual property enforcement, copyright protection, passing-off, and unlawful competition matters. Natalie has a holistic approach to her client’s businesses, and also advises on the labelling and regulatory compliance of the product in question, advertising law, and social media issues.
Natalie has assisted clients in diverse sectors including in media and entertainment, fashion, cosmetics, toys and games, food and beverages, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), pharmaceuticals, tobacco, and e-cigarettes.
Natalie is a South African qualified attorney of the High Court and a qualified trade mark attorney.
Experience
- Acting for and advising one of Africa's biggest FMCG companies on trade mark filings and prosecution in various African and South American countries, assisting them with enforcing these brands in various jurisdictions, and advising them on regulatory compliance issues.
- Acting for one of the biggest international FMCG companies worldwide particularly assisting with trade mark prosecution and filing programmes in South Africa and its neighbouring countries - Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Eswatini and Lesotho.
- Acting for a prestigious fashion brand in enforcing their trade marks in Africa and online including successfully bringing various domain name complaints on their behalf.
- Successfully representing a pet food client in a trade mark dispute combining copyright, social media, trade mark infringement and passing-off aspects.
- Successfully defending a domain name complaint lodged against a well-known online vehicle retail company.
- Successfully enforcing various brands by lodging domain name complaints on their behalf.
