Pieter Brits is a senior lecturer in the Department of Mercantile Law where he teaches Intellectual Property Law and Tax Law to undergraduate and postgraduate students. He has lectured in other commercial law subjects such as Consumer Protection Law, Competition Law, Insurance Law and Pension Funds Law.

He started his academic career at the University of the Free State obtaining the degree B.Com(Law) cum laude. As first in his class, he received various academic bursaries and prizes such as the Moritz Bobbert award and the Judge DH van Zyl award for Roman Law and Legal History. He pursued his studies at the University of Pretoria with a scholarship from the Attorney’s Fidelity Fund and obtained the degrees B.Com(Hons)(Financial Management Sciences – Taxation) and LL.B cum laude. His interest in Tax Law became evident as the recipient of the Digma Prize for Tax Law. Pieter attended the School for Legal Practice presented by the Law Society of South Africa at the University of the Free State, obtaining first prize in a national litigation competition hosted by Juta with an average of 96%. He scored the highest marks in the Free State for all four subjects of the Attorney’s Admission Examination and was admitted as an attorney of the High Court of South Africa.

Pieter practised as a Trade Mark Litigation Attorney at Adams & Adams Attorneys in Pretoria and he passed Part 1 of the Trade Mark Practitioner`s Examination of the South African Institute of Intellectual Property Law with distinctions in Copyright and Trade Marks. He also gained several years experience as a Tax Consultant at Deloitte in Cape Town and Sandton.

He entered academia at the University of the Free State and he received the Harry Oppenheimer Memorial Trust scholarship to read for an LL.M at Jesus College, University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. He specialised in commercial and international law, with the subjects Intellectual Property Law, International Intellectual Property Law and International Taxation. He has a keen interest in the use and application of technology in teaching and participated in numerous projects on innovation for which he received an award from the Centre for Teaching and Learning at the University of the Free State.

Pieter conducts research in Intellectual Property Law and Tax Law and he has published and delivered several international and national research papers and chapters in textbooks. He is a member of the International Association for the Advancement of Teaching and Research in Intellectual Property (ATRIP), the South African Association of Intellectual Property Law and Information Technology Law Teachers and Researchers (AIPLITL) and the South African Law Teachers Association.

Chapters in Books

The taxation of close companies. 2007-2017. JJ Hennning (ed). Close Companies Service. LexisNexis ISBN 060CLOSECOSYS.

The taxation of close corporations. 2007-2017. JJ Hennning (ed). Close Corporations Service. LexisNexis ISBN 060CLOSECOSYS.

The taxation of Interest Earned in Customer Loyalty Award Programming in South Africa. 2014. p 43-46. David A. Frenkel (ed). Selected Legal Issues in Economics. Athens Institute for Education and Research ISBN 978-618-5065-24-9.

Articles (peer reviewed)

Brits P "The Taxation of Interest Earned in Customer Loyalty Award Programmes in South Africa" 2013 Athens: ATINER`S Conference Paper Series, No: LAW2013-0872.

Raath AWG, Brits PS “Indigenous knowledge systems, cultural heritage law and legal principles” Journal of South African Law (TSAR) 2018(4):739-753.

Raath AWG, Brits PS “Copyright in traditional work and indigenous knowledge – implications of the Protection, Promotion, Development and Management of Indigenous Knowledge Bill (2016)” The Journal of Contemporary Roman-Dutch Law (THRHR) 2019 82(1):120-135.

Raath AWG, Brits PS “Indigenous knowledge as a protectable cultural heritage asset: Notes on the proposed protection of indigenous knowledge in South Africa” The Journal of Humanities (TGW) 2019 59(3):345-366.

Raath AWG, Brits PS “The proposed sui generis protection of indigenous knowledge assets” Stellenbosch Law Review (SLR) 2020 31(1):110-137.

Book reviews (peer reviewed)

Brits P “Tax Law: An Introduction” Journal for Juridical Science (JJS) 2014 39(1):130-133.

Intellectual Property Law: Copyright, Trade Marks, Patents, Traditional Knowledge

Tax Law

Artificial Intelligence

Competition Law

Consumer Protection Law 

Insurance Law

LL.B: Tax Law (LTAX4810)

LL.B: Intellectual Property Law (LIPL4820)

LL.B: Specific Contracts (LSPC3723)

LL.M: Copyright Law (LMCR7900)

LL.M: International Intellectual Property Law (LMII7900)