PUNUKA is a member of Lawyers Associated Worldwide (LAW), a global network of over 100 independent law firms located in more than 180 major commercial centers around the world. The state of reciprocity is such that we are able to extend to our clients the benefits of our accumulated goodwill to assist them whenever their cross border transactions touch on those jurisdictions where our correspondents and member firms operate.
We are members of the Capital Market Solicitors Association (CMSA) which our Senior Partner is the founding Chairman. The Firm is also a member of the Business Recovery and Insolvency Practitioners Association of Nigeria. We maintain affiliations to a network of international firms and experts in related fields of law whose services will be readily available where necessary for accomplishment of assigned tasks. In particular, members of the Firm are members of INSOL, the International voice of business restructuring and insolvency practice and IAEL, the International Association of Entertainment Lawyers amongst others.
Von Seidels is a specialist IP law firm in Africa with a team of over 100 people. We assist clients both locally and internationally in obtaining all forms of IP protection and deals with all IP related commercial activities, including agreements, valuations and litigation.
Our head office is in Cape Town and we have a satellite office in Johannesburg, South Africa. We have offices in ARIPO (Namibia), OAPI (Cameroon) and Nigeria.
Von Seidels Nigeria office is based in the country’s capital and IP centre, Abuja. We partnered with experienced Nigerian IP attorney Okey Onyekanma to establish this office.
Our offices cover the majority of the African continent. South Africa, ARIPO, OAPI and Nigeria combined comprise 70% of Africa’s countries. In the rest of Africa we work with trusted agents.
With many years of experience working in Africa, we have vast local knowledge and understanding of country-specific legislative requirements and issues across this continent.
G. Elias is one of Nigeria’s leading business law firms. We have been in business since 1994. We are known for the originality of our thinking, the thoroughness of the content of our work, our speed of response and our integrity and resolve to executing our client’s work to the highest standards. The quality of our work is recognized in all the leading international directories of lawyers. Our paramount aim in our IP practice as in all our other practices has always been to offer our clients, services of very highest quality. That means that we emphasize technical proficiency, attention to detail and creativity in developing practical solutions to clients' problems. We are known for our sensitivity to clients' business needs and concerns and promptness in responding to and executing their requests. We have expertise and experience, and we welcome enquiries and instructions.
We have invested in the technology, facilities and support personnel that we need to excel at what we do. We have unusual breadth in the range of our work. We are organized into sixteen practice groups and twenty-five subsectors. We have been consistently highly ranked in global directories of lawyers vis a vis , Chambers Global, World Trademark Review, The IP stars amongst others. Our IP practice has consistently been highly rated. We are unusual among law firms in that we have the ISO 9001:2008 certification and are currently transitioning to ISO 9001:2015 certification. In the field of intellectual property ("IP"), infringement prosecution, defense, and enforcement of trademarks including online enforcement, patents, utility models and design models as well as preparing and concluding licence agreements, G. Elias & Co. is your go-to firm.
Our Intellectual Property practice is central to our vibrant New Economy practice. (By "New Economy" we mean telecommunications, technology, media and entertainment--subsectors that today contribute 15% of Nigeria’s gross domestic product.) We work with patents in the telecommunications and technology subsectors; on copyright in the media and entertainment subsectors and on trademarks across all New Economy subsectors.
We represent writers, actors, directors, producers, production companies, media companies, distributors, sales agents, authors, musicians, composers, management companies and journalists across media platforms. Our work cuts across the film, music, television, theatre, print and publishing, radio, gaming and other areas of established and emerging media. We have industry experience in drafting, negotiating, recording talent and executive employment agreements and advising creative media and entertainment and new media companies.
Our experience in providing legal and business solutions to technology companies extends to licensing, advising on data privacy, protection and registration with relevant regulatory bodies and to structuring and providing comprehensive legal services to protect and advance our clients position in transactions.
Financial Services
Food manufacturing
Commodities
Food and Beverage
Fast moving consumer goods
Automobile
Medical Technology
Information Technology
Media and Entertainment
Agricultural services
Health and Pharmaceuticals
Cosmetics and Fashion
Sports
Education
Transport
Electrical and Electronics
Hotel and Hospitality
ǼLEX is recommended for IP protection and transactions work in Nigeria. Co-founder and transactions specialist Theophilus Emuwa and Tiwalola Osazuwa are key partners in the firm's IP practice. They are supported by associates such as Adeoluwa Ademola and Ebubechukwu Nnachi.