A question that inevitably arises is whether unregistered trade marks are afforded protection in South Africa and if so, to what extent. South African trade mark law is hybrid legal system governed...
Intellectual Property
Insights
Common Law
Central African Republic Trade Marks
International and Regional Systems: Paris Convention PCT OAPI Member of OAPI, a regional filing system which covers Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Ivory Coast, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal and Togo. A single application automatically covers all countries mentioned above. It is not possible to designate the countries of interest. For more information, please refer to OAPI.
Foreign IP filings into Africa
According to estimates, Africa’s population will reach 2.4 billion by the year 2050. This will, in turn, create considerable opportunities in terms of economic growth which also creates...
Gambia to join the Banjul Protocol
On 3 May 2021, Gambia deposited its instrument of accession to the Banjul Protocol on Trade Marks. Thus, Gambia may be eligible for designation in ARIPO from 3 August 2021 - Gambia to join the...
Banjul Protocol Update 2020
On 15 May 2020, the Government of the Republic of Mozambique deposited its instrument of accession to the Banjul Protocol on Marks. The instrument of accession is pursuant to a previous resolution...
Uganda Trade Mark Regulations Amendments
“The Trademarks Act No.17, 2010 was recently amended by the Trademark (Amendment) Regulations No. 9 of 2021”. Uganda has recently amended its Trade Mark Regulations, bringing about several...
Protecting Innovations, indirectly through AfCFTA
The African Continental Free Trade Area AfCFTA is a free trade area founded in 2018, with trade commencing as of 1 January 2021. It was created among 54 of the 55 African Union nations. One of the...
Granting of a compulsory license for pharmaceuticals
In the event that an interested person discovers, through what ever means, a patented product that is still in force, and that person wishes to make use of that patent in South Africa, the person...
Legalisation of Private Use of Cannabis in South Africa
In September 2018, a landmark decision by the Constitutional Court in South Africa legalised certain acts in relation to cannabis. In particular, the court ruled that the private cultivation,...
Recent Increase in Trade Mark Filings in South Africa
According to the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), South Africa is currently grouped under middle-income countries, amongst other African countries such as Egypt and Algeria. In...
2021 Client Choice Awards
Congratulations to Esmari Jonker on being named a 2021 Client Choice Award Winner! All winners of the 2021 Lexology Client Choice Awards were announced on the 14th of October 2021 and Esmari Jonker...
CIPC File Transfer Notice
Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) File Transfer Notice The South African CIPC has commenced with the second stage of the large-scale file transition to a new bulk storage...