Trademarking

Intellectual Property
Home / South Africa / Trademarking

As an entrepreneur or business owner, trademarking your name and/or logo is crucial to protecting your intellectual property from infringement. A trade mark is a recognisable sign, design, or expression which identifies your brand from those of others. A trademark owner can be an individual, business organisation, or any legal entity. Trade marks are often displayed on company buildings, packaging, stationary, documents etc. 

Trademarks used to identify services are usually called service marks. The owner of a trademark may pursue legal action against trade mark infringement, and most countries require formal registration of a mark as a precondition for pursuing legal action. Common law actions may be taken to protect unregistered marks, but offers less legal protection.

One should begin the process of trademarking as soon as possible. It is necessary to register a trade mark in all countries in which your business has operations, because trade marks are territorial in nature. 

The ® symbol indicates a registered trade mark and the ™ symbol indicates a trade mark, but does not indicate registration. The ℠ symbol indicates a service mark (a trade mark for the provision of services).