TM Registration and Use in South Africa

African countries provide great opportunities for commercial activities. Starting a business in South Africa is simple and relatively quick. The same can be said about the trademark registration procedure in South Africa. This is what today's blog post will be about. Moreover, if you intend to establish a trust in South Africa, then the practice of registering a TM in the name of a trust is quite common here.

This is often used to transfer ownership to the trustee of this trust. Also in this jurisdiction, joint applicants can register a brand. This practice is frequently used when several businesses come together and establish a joint entity to get local acceptance and capture the market.

What can be registered as a TM?

To be eligible for the registration of a South African TM, you must submit a mark that has a unique identity and very clearly and unambiguously distinguishes your product or group of goods or services from competitors. In addition to the usual brands that can be presented in graphic form, non-standard trademarks can be registered in South Africa without any problems. These include sounds, movements, video scenes, 3D shapes and a number of others.

Unregistered TMs

If you open a company in South Africa and you have your own brand, then you can benefit from TM protection in South Africa only if your brand is known and recognizable. Then you, as the owner of such a brand, can prohibit the use and registration of marks that present an imitation or translation of your brand.

However, it is worth making a reservation that in order to exercise this right, you, as a brand owner, will need to provide evidence that you have a real industrial or commercial enterprise in a country that is a signatory of the Paris Convention. It doesn't matter if you really do business in South Africa or not.

How can you benefit from registering a TM in South Africa?

After registering a trademark, its owner receives additional protection which can prove important in some business situations. For example, you will be able to demand the arrest and destruction of counterfeit products of those who used your brand or its imitation. Registration is attractive to licensees as it enables you to get royalty while your licensees will be empowered to initiate legal proceedings in the event of TM rights violation. There is also a popular practice to register a South African TM for use as debt financing.