Elaine Bergenthuin

Elaine Bergenthuin is a managing partner at De Beer Attorneys. She has a wealth of experience in both prosecution and litigation of all forms of intellectual property. Elaine is a qualified electronic engineer, a registered South African Patent Attorney and an Admitted Attorney of the High Court of South Africa. She has over 10 years of experience in the legal industry, both locally and abroad. Elaine spent a number of years working at a leading firm of Chartered and European patent attorneys in London, who specialize in obtaining patent protection for software, business methods and related technologies. Here she was instrumental in securing patent protection for the technology developments of large multi-national companies such as Samsung Technologies, Hewlett Packard and Good Technology (patent portfolio sold to Apple Inc.). During this time she also assisted in securing a US$68 million win for Good Technology in the European leg of its multi-national patent litigation dispute with Research in Motion (makers of the Blackberry). She has also acted on behalf of industry leaders in the ICT and telecommunication sectors in South Africa with regard to their intellectual property requirements including successfully representing clients in patent and trademark related matters before the High Court of South Africa. Elaine also has a detailed commercial acumen having applied her skills in the commercial sphere as an in-house legal advisor for a large multi-national company for a number of years. Elaine therefore has the unique ability to combine her in-depth, international skills and experience in  intellectual property to the commercial considerations of local companies. In 2013, Elaine was ranked as a Leading Patent Practitioner in South Africa in the IAM Magazine Patent 1000 international rankings and was described as "one to watch".

Education:
• B. Eng (Electronics) (University of Pretoria) • LL B ( University of SA) • Cert. in Intellectual Property and Competition Law (University of London) • Registered South African Patent Attorney • Law Society of the Northern Provinces - Member • South Afri

Formal Admissions:
Admitted to the High Court as an attorney in January 2005.

Admission Status:
Practicing Roll

Languages:
Afrikaans, English

Direct Contact:
  +27 (0) 21 100 4545
  +27 21 286 1490