About us 

Colin attends to a variety of IP related services, including litigation, but focuses primarily in the drafting, filing and prosecution of patent and design matters in South Africa and abroad. He has experience in drafting and prosecuting applications in various technical fields including mechanical devices, packaging, mining and construction, medical devices, pharmaceutics, polymer processing, process engineering and automation, electronics and information technology.

After obtaining his mechanical engineering degree, Colin worked as an engineer attending to maintenance, operations and projects in the process and petrochemical industries in Sasolburg, South Africa (1994 – 1996), while studying law part-time.

Colin completed his articles of clerkship at Adams & Adams, a large intellectual property law firm in Pretoria, South Africa (1997-1998), while receiving training in various aspects of the drafting and filing of patent and design applications in South Africa. Following his admission as an attorney, worked in a department attending to patent and design applications in South Africa on behalf of overseas clients and during this time, he was part of the team who established the firm’s practice for filing patent and design applications in other African countries.

Colin became a partner, registered as a patent attorney and was transferred to the firm’s office in Cape Town, South Africa in 2001, where he attended to the drafting and prosecution of patent and design applications in South Africa and abroad, but his work also diversified to include opinion work, due diligence, and searching, filing and prosecution of trade mark applications in South Africa.

In 2005, Colin left Adams & Adams and joined Brian Bacon Inc and continued to work in all the fields he worked in previously, focused on patent drafting and prosecution, but also diversified his practice further to include commercial drafting work and patent and trade mark litigation in South Africa.

Subsequently, Brian Bacon Inc has grown to the extent that allowed him to focus more on the drafting and prosecution of patent applications in South Africa and especially abroad. His extensive track record in this regard has allowed him to gain experience in wide ranging technical fields and also in patent prosecution strategies.

Academic Qualifications
B.Eng (mechanical engineering) University of Stellenbosch, South Africa 1993
B.Proc (law) University of South Africa, 1998
LLM (master of laws) University of South Africa, 2008

Admissions
Attorney of the High Court of South Africa
Patent Attorney (South Africa)

Professional Memberships
Cape Law Society
Fellow, South African Institute of Intellectual Property Law
International Trade Mark Association

Vanessa has extensive experience in the filing and prosecution of patent and trade mark applications in South Africa and abroad. She specialises in local and international trade mark searches, filing and prosecution of patent and trade mark applications, trade mark litigation, and portfolio management.

Vanessa completed her articles of clerkship at Adams & Adams, where she received training in the drafting filing and prosecution of patent and design applications at the South African Patent and Design office. After completion of her articles, she assisted in the foreign filing department with the filing and prosecution of patent and design applications in South Africa on behalf of overseas clients.

Vanessa joined Brian Bacon Inc. in 2008, and shortly thereafter registered as a Patent Attorney, focusing on the filing and prosecution of patent and design applications for clients in South Africa and abroad in a variety of technology fields. Her work gradually diversified to include all aspects of intellectual property advice, including trade mark filing, prosecution and litigation in South African and abroad.

Academic Qualifications
B.Sc (Genetics, Physiology and Psychology), University of Stellenbosch, 2000
B.Sc Honours in Genetics, University of Stellenbosch, 2001
LLB, University of Stellenbosch, 2004

Admissions
Attorney of the High Court of South Africa
Patent Attorney

Professional Memberships
Cape Law Society
Fellow, South African Institute of Intellectual Property Law
International Trade Mark Association