Mr. Érik Van Der Vyver
Von Seidels
4 East Park
Central Park on Park Lane
Cape Town
7441
South Africa

Erik is a South African patent attorney and one of the founding partners at Von Seidels.
With his background in electronic engineering and computer science he advises established technology companies and tech start-ups on their local and international patent acquisition, prosecution and enforcement strategies.
Erik has a thriving patent drafting practice focusing on software, mobile technologies, mobile apps, electronic commerce, banking, telecommunications, and digital signal processing and related technologies.
His other areas of expertise include:
- advising on the international transfer of intellectual property rights and preparing applications to the South African Reserve Bank for offshore IP transfers;
- advising companies on strategically aligning their intellectual property portfolios with a view to acquiring international investments;
- obtaining granted patents for traditionally more difficult technologies (such as software) in the most challenging international jurisdictions (USA, EPO, China etc.);
- drafting intellectual property based agreements including licensing, manufacture, research and development agreements; and
- renewable energy technologies.
Erik is the President of the South African Institute of Intellectual Property Law (SAIIPL) and is a part-time lecturer in Intellectual Property Law at a number of Cape-Town-based universities.
Erik is a South African patent attorney and one of the founding partners at Von Seidels.
With his background in electronic engineering and computer science he advises established technology companies and tech start-ups on their local and international patent acquisition, prosecution and enforcement strategies.
Erik has a thriving patent drafting practice focusing on software, mobile technologies, mobile apps, electronic commerce, banking, telecommunications, and digital signal processing and related technologies.
His other areas of expertise include:
- advising on the international transfer of intellectual property rights and preparing applications to the South African Reserve Bank for offshore IP transfers;
- advising companies on strategically aligning their intellectual property portfolios with a view to acquiring international investments;
- obtaining granted patents for traditionally more difficult technologies (such as software) in the most challenging international jurisdictions (USA, EPO, China etc.);
- drafting intellectual property based agreements including licensing, manufacture, research and development agreements; and
- renewable energy technologies.
Erik is the President of the South African Institute of Intellectual Property Law (SAIIPL) and is a part-time lecturer in Intellectual Property Law at a number of Cape-Town-based universities.
World IP Review features Erik van der Vyver as a leading IP practitioner (2022).
The Legal 500 recognises Erik van der Vyver as a ‘Leading Individual’ (2022).
Managing Intellectual Property recognises Erik van der Vyver as a ‘Patent Star’ (2022).
B.Eng. (E&E + Comp Sci)
LLB
Experience & Qualifications
- Electrical engineering
- Electronics, IT and telecommunications
- Energy; power generation, storage and transmission; renewable energy
- Physics
- Software; computer-implemented inventions
- Licensing and IP-related agreements
- Patent drafting
- Patent litigation
- Patent prosecution
- Registered design prosecution
- English