Spoor & Fisher - Intellectual Property law specialists Patents, trade marks, copyright, design, domain names, South Africa and Africa

Spoor & Fisher Open New Office in Gambia

01/03/2007

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By Mike Sevant

A little over a year ago the IP profession lost a valued colleague and true gentleman with the passing of Sam H A George, MBE. Sam had specialised in IP law in The Gambia for a great many years.

To Spoor & Fisher, Sam was much more than an associate. We worked closely with him for a very long time and had regular meetings. At the time of his death, we had been discussing a joint venture which would ultimately have led to the opening of our own office in The Gambia. Those discussions continued with his family, and we are delighted to announce that we have indeed now opened our own office, which will be known as Spoor & Fisher Gambia.

We have acquired the IP practice of Sam H A George & Co and are employing their staff. As part of the agreement, we will also finalise matters entrusted to that firm, which has now ceased to operate.

Spoor & Fisher Gambia will be administered by our Jersey office and, for the foreseeable future, all client correspondence (including fax, e-mail and invoicing) will be handled by Spoor & Fisher Jersey. In that way we will be able to keep abreast of clients’ needs, and exercise better quality control over the firm’s activities in The Gambia.

Our office in The Gambia has moved to new premises, which are very close to the Registry, and will deal with all local issues (e.g. our dealings with the Trade Marks Registry, the Government Printer and other government bodies). The office in The Gambia will not have any direct communications with clients.

For Spoor & Fisher’s existing clients there should be no change.

We would ask that clients of Sam H A George & Co should now send all correspondence directly to Spoor & Fisher Jersey, whose details are as follows:

Postal address		Courier address
Spoor & Fisher Jersey P O Box 281 St Helier Jersey JE4 9TW Channel Islands		Spoor & Fisher Jersey Africa House Castle Street St Helier Jersey Channel Islands
Tel: + 44 1534 838000 Fax: + 44 1534 838001 e-mail: info@spoor.co.uk website: www.spoor.com

We would also like to make a brief comment on the current situation as regards trade mark registration procedures in The Gambia.

Regrettably the Gambian Registry is in a somewhat chaotic state. It is understaffed and under-resourced. The prosecution of trade mark applications is many years in arrears, due mainly to the failure to publish marks, for opposition purposes, in the Trade Marks Journal. We have heard many excuses over the years; but it does seem that there is some willingness to attempt to move matters forward. However, the files and the Register (relating to the next batch of marks due to be advertised) seem to have been mislaid and this is hampering efforts to bring the Registry up to date.

It is our intention to work closely with the Registry in an attempt to bring about improvements in the situation. This is unlikely to happen overnight but we will keep you informed of any developments.

Should you have any queries,please contact Spoor & Fisher Jersey.

Click here for Gambia Filing Requirements

Mike Sevant
SPOOR & FISHER