Dirk Hanekom
Partner, Spoor & Fisher, Cape Town
d.hanekom@spoor.com 
+ 27 21 673 4405 
LinkedIn profile
Download Vcard
Dirk Hanekom is a Patent Attorney and has MSc (Chem) and LLB cum laude degrees. He is an Attorney of the High Court of South Africa.
Dirk has over a decade of experience in domestic and international patent matters.
He specialises in the preparation and prosecution of applications relating to pharmaceutical inventions, including novel compounds, formulations and manufacturing techniques; and other general chemical technologies including petrochemicals, catalysts, polymer chemistry, pesticides, rubber and general consumer goods. Dirk also advises clients on regulatory issues relating to these technology areas.
He has extensive experience in conducting freedom to operate investigations in South Africa and the rest of the African continent.
Industry Associations
- Fellow – South African Institute of Intellectual Property Law (SAIIPL)
- Member – Southern African Research and Innovation Management Association (SARIMA)
- Member – International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property (AIPPI)
- Member – Legal Practice Council (LPC)
Professional Activities
- Contributor of Patents and Designs for the Thomson Reuters IP Global Guide: South Africa, 2018
- Author of the South Africa chapter in The Life Sciences Law Review (Law Business Research Ltd, London), 2021
- Guest lecturer of IP short course: Stellenbosch University, 2015-present
- Guest lecturer on IP Law: Nelson Mandela University, 2019
- Speaker at World IP Day Conference Shanghai, 2019
- Speaker at SARIMA Conference, 2015-2016
- Author of the South Africa chapter in Pharmaceutical Test Data Exclusivity: A Multi-Jurisdictional Survey, Wolters Kluwer, 2022
English 
Chinese 
Japanese