Ilse du Plessis

Ilse du Plessis is an Executive in the Intellectual Property & Innovation practice at ENS, specialising in intellectual property law. She advises clients on trade marks, copyright, and other IP matters across a range of sectors, including automotive, communication, financial services, food and beverages, insurance, media, retail, and sport.

She has extensive experience in trade mark portfolio management, including searches, filings, maintenance, and audits, with particular emphasis on foreign and African trade marks. She also specialises in transactional IP matters, including due diligence investigations, licensing and transfers, as well as plant breeders' rights and copyright matters, providing strategic legal counsel to local and international clients.

Ilse is recognised as a leading lawyer by Chambers Global, The Legal 500 EMEA, Managing IP: IP Stars Handbooks, and World Trademark Review (WTR) for trade marks and prosecution and strategy, and was ranked in Acquisition International Magazine for Most Influential Woman in IP Law (2019). She holds a BA (Cum Laude) and LLB (Cum Laude) from Stellenbosch University and is admitted as an attorney of the High Court of South Africa.