Tag: Spoor and Fisher

Digital business is the new frontier of modern entrepreneurship, and applications (apps) have become the gateway to almost every service imaginable. In a global economy driven by interconnectivity and advancing technology, start-up companies in all digital industries, particularly in FinTech, are quickly becoming the Oil and Rail industry equivalent of the 21st century.

As gene therapy technologies continue to reshape modern medicine, patent law increasingly faces a difficult task. Courts must distinguish products of nature from genuine biological engineering. They frequently decide whether inventions involving genetic material represent technological innovation or merely identify naturally occurring biological features.

As consumer demand shifts towards healthier lifestyles, the food industry is rapidly evolving beyond traditional nutrition. Diet trends such as keto, vegan and other wellness-focused regimes are driving investment into products that offer more than basic sustenance. These include functional beverages, plant-based alternatives, enhanced infant formulas and botanically enriched foods.

Excitement will abound on 11 June 2026 when the South Africa national soccer team takes on the Mexico national football team in the highly anticipated 2026 FIFA World Cup opener in Mexico City. This match will serve as a rematch of the opening game of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. It also marks South Africa’s return to the World Cup stage after failing to qualify for the previous three tournaments.

The proliferation of counterfeit goods continues to present legal and commercial risks across multiple sectors. Increasingly, this extends beyond traditional high-value items to functional tools such as calculators. As counterfeiters target price-sensitive markets, businesses and consumers face growing exposure to products that undermine both performance and intellectual property rights.

What do vodka and pepper sauce have in common? Surprisingly, their packaging. In January 2026, the McIlhenny Company filed a lawsuit in a Texas federal court. It targeted Stoli Group (USA) LLC. The claim alleges that Stoli’s new “Halapeño Pepper” vodka infringes on TABASCO® pepper sauce trade dress. This marks the start of a spicy trade dress dispute.

The South African media have recently reported growing concern within SARS about the online promotion of so-called “luxury dupes”. Dupes are short for “duplicates” and represent products that mimic well-known luxury brands and are often promoted on TikTok, Instagram and other social platforms, but at a fraction of the price.

When Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce announced their engagement, it didn’t just make headlines. It scored a pop culture touchdown. A pop icon met the NFL’s charismatic star player. The pairing set the internet ablaze. With two global superstars joining forces, the commercial possibilities extend far beyond headlines and hashtags.

In the world of social media influencers and content creators, a face can sometimes be more valuable than gold. Through strategic commercialisation, public figures now build empires based on their identity. This is possible because of one powerful tool: image rights. To understand image rights, we must first understand the right to identity.

Open source software has transformed the way we develop and use technology, facilitating a collaborative approach that allows developers to access, modify and distribute code, often without any obligation to pay licence fees to an upstream licensor.