Trademark registration in South Africa

You don’t need to have your trademark registered. It’s true. As a trademark owner, there is no law forcing you to put your trademark through trademark registration. But did you know that trademark registration is the one thing that every smart bu...
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Trademark registration proves its worth in Scrabble vs. Scramble

Ever wondered if the process of trademark registration is going to prove to be worth it? In this case it was. When Scrabble saw that a similar company bore startling similarities to its name and game, a case of trademark infringement was brought befo...
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Trademark Registration – 10 Favorite Trademarks

Every major brand out there has had to undergo Trademark Registration. In order to safeguard your trademark and prevent infringement, you have to apply for trademark registration with the help of copyright attorneys. If your trademark is the same or...
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Trademark Registration Requirements

What you need to know about Trademark Registration If you are thinking of opening a business, you’re probably hoping to register the trademark that sets your business apart from others. Trademark Registration is not a legal requirement, but it...
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The purpose of Trademark Registration

Why is Trademark Registration necessary? So you’ve just opened a company and it’s going well… Your products are good quality and selling at a phenomenal pace. Just when you think business couldn’t get better, a similar company opens acros...
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10 Biggest Copyright Infringements

Copyright Infringement is a serious offence, Punishable by Law The time, effort and money that goes into creating something artistic is not all that is at stake if you do not have a copyright on your intellectual property; passion usually goes hand ...
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Why you should use a trademark attorney when registering a trademark

You should use trademark attorneys when registering a trademark

Your trademark is your intellectual property and when you have designed a trademark that is like no other and you want to use it as part of your branding, you should be thinking about having it registered. Registered trademarks are protected under the Trademarks Act, giving the owner of the trademark the sole right to use the trademark for commercial ventures and to fight for the protection of the trademark should someone else try to use it without permission.

Registering a trademark

Trademarks are registered with the Companies and Intellectual Properties Commission. Although only registered trademarks can be protected by the Trademarks Act, common law can be used to protect those trademarks that are not registered. When a trademark is registered the owner of the trademark will receive a certificate stating that the trademark is owned by someone and that it is registered.

The trademark will have to meet the following requirements before it can be registered:

• The mark should not be a reflection of protected national emblems or national symbols.


• The mark must not be a common symbol used within your industry or field.


• The mark must not be offensive or against good morals and standards.


• It must not be in conflict with other rights.


• It must not be a representation of the standard or the quality of the products produced or the services delivered.

Trademark attorneys

The registering of trademarks is not limited to trademark attorneys, rather the registration of a trademark can be done by anyone who has a trademark that meets the requirements needed for it to be registered. But the time and the money involved in the registering of a trademark can make using trademark attorneys an attractive option.

While the application process for the registering of a trademark is made to be as easy as possible, many people struggle with this part especially if they are having to deal with terms that they do not understand or if their application has been rejected but they are unable to find out why. The quick and simple process that you thought it would be suddenly becomes a situation that you cannot get out of.

Trademark attorneys deal with the registering of trademarks on a daily basis, they know how to push an application through quickly and they know how to argue the rejection of a trademark as soon as they find out that the trademark has been rejected. They are able to save you time and money by making sure that the paperwork is correctly completed and that all of the information that is needed is given. Trademark attorneys will also be able to tell you if your trademark doesn’t meet the criteria in anyway.

The longer you wait to register a trademark the more possibility you have of losing the trademark to someone else. The use of a trademark attorney has also proven to increase the possibility of the trademark registration being approved the first time.

Registered trademarks will give you a number of advantages that you would not have had access to had your trademark not been registered, and with options available to you to have your trademark registered you should be considering starting the application process so that your trademark will be protected.

 

Why you should use a trademark attorney when registering a trademark

Trademark class assignment

The class of a trademark refers to a selection of 45 trademark classes where-under products can be registered. The number under which each class falls is referred to as the “class code”. A product or service does not necessarily fall under only one class and would in some instances have to be registered individually or additionally under each of the relevant classes.

Section 11 of the Trade Marks Act No. 194 of 1993 as amended by Companies Act No. 71 of 2008 prescribes that the registration of a trade mark has to be in respect of particular goods or services. It is therefore a statutory requirement that goods or services fall under one of the 45 registerable class codes in order to be registered and that the correct class is listed in the application when the application is lodged the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission.

The classes are divided into two divisions, viz, “goods” and “services”.

From the 45 classes, 34 refer to goods, these goods include for example Class 25, which includes clothing, headgear and footwear. The remaining 11 refer to services, Class 35 for instance refers to services like advertising, business management and business administration (among others). Goods therefor refer to corporeal objects and usually in a business the sale thereof, whereas services refer to the delivery of a service by a business.

The first class of registerable trademarks in relation to goods covers chemicals products, these products include a variety of chemical products ranging from chemical products in science and photography to certain chemical products preserving “foodstuffs” among a variety of additional chemical substances used in industry.

There is a close resemblance in what each class includes and excludes. For this reason, the determination of a relevant class can be baffling to an entity or individual that lacks expertise in the field of trademarks, the application of trademarks and the registration that emits should such application succeed.

A good example of where such a distinction might become confusing is Class 2. The class describes (among other substances) paints and dies, it covers “dye stuffs” for clothing but excludes cosmetic dyes. From the above, it is clear that what is included and what excluded is quite vague and that it takes assertive knowledge, attention and experience to allot a product or service to the relevant class in registration.

The compilation of classes is quite exhaustive and covers a wide range of deliverable goods and services that are candidates for the allocation and registration of trade marks.

Trademark attorney’s deal with this distinction on a daily basis, the classes are very familiar to these experts and the allocation of the relevant class is habitually practiced, it is therefore highly advisable to appoint a trademark attorney when commencing the staggering benefit of a trademark registration to prevent unsuccessful trademark application and to guarantee its success.

 

Trademark class assignment

Trademarks - A Precious Commodity

“Trademarks are precious commodities in distinguishing products from similar products in related industries.

The Trademarks Act 194 of 1993 defines a Trademark as “a mark used or proposed to be used by a person in relation to goods or services for the purpose of distinguishing the goods or services…” it therefore not only refers to the design of a logo, contents of a slogan or name of a brand but also refers to the fonts, colors/combinations of colors, audible forms, such as jingles and various additional devices that provoke association to a product.

The possibility for the registration of “unconventional” Trademarks with relation to sensational articles is quite an interesting subject which will become more developed as marketing, production and innovation transcends the status quo. Such articles include gustatory (taste), tactile (feeling) and olfactory (smell) devices. The law regarding such articles should shortly emanate from the rising need to protect such economic devices and features with regard to products and services.

Once a trade mark is registered the mark is protected for a period of 10 years, after the lapse of which the registration is renewable.

The trademark registration process consists of various stages. The first of which should be obtaining legal advice. Though seeking such advice is not obligatory, legal assistance is immensely advantageous to the filing of the application and will sufficiently influence the success of the application to proceed to registration.

It should then be determined what class the mark will fall under as there are 45 classes where under trademarks are registered, 34 of the classes include various goods and the remainder covers services. The class should be determined to avoid conflicts between registrations of various applications.

After the above logistics are resolved an online registration is conducted by the applicant on the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission website.

The next step is completion of the official application form, this form is known as a TM1 form and will be submitted to CIPC in triplicate along with the prescribed application fee. When the form is received the applicant is allotted with an official application number which should appear on all communication with the CIPC.

Within seven months of lodging the application a detailed inspection is conducted on the application, after the inspection CIPC issues an action stipulating either the conditions for acceptance or the grounds on which the refusal is based. Upon compliance with the conditions a Notice of Acceptance is issued and posted in the Patent Journal. For a fixed term of three months from date of advertisement in the Journal, 3^rd parties can oppose the registration of the trademark in question. In absence of an opposition a trademark registration will be issued in the fullness of time.

 

Association, respectability and the sustaining of reputation is of predominant merit to the owner. Though attempted misrepresentation for example the use of a registered owners mark to sell a counterfeit product by and imposter is unavoidable, the registration gives the rightful owner proof of its ownership. It is thereof clear that a great many benefits lie in the registration of trademarks, a principal point of which is the advantageous lead that would accrue to the owner in the event of trade mark litigation.

The mark is a public advocate of the (hopefully) good product or service that a company provides.”

 

– Mandi Labuschagne

Trademarks - A Precious Commodity

Test Post from Mccabe Attorneys

Test Post from Mccabe Attorneys http://www.mccabeattorneys.co.za

Why do I need to register the trademark of my business?

Business Trademark Registration South Africa

Protect your business with trademark registration

If you are operating your business thinking that the intellectual property of the business, made up of things such as the name, slogan and logo is automatically protected you may be in for a nasty surprise. It is amazing how many business owners are unaware of the importance of protecting the intellectual property through trademark registration by a trademark attorney.

For an example of the advantages of trademark registration – click here.