News & Insights
Nigerian Judicial Strike Continues
For over a month now, the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria has been on strike. This has caused a complete closure of all courts throughout the country. Unfortunately, this means that an already overburdened judicial system will be placed under further pressure when operations resume. There is currently no indication as to when the courts will […]
May 20 2021
Zipo: Making Headway Despite Operational Constraints
Although the Zimbabwean Registry has welcomed the fact that its Industrial Property Automated System (IPAS) is up and running again, the Registry’s operations were severely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic as ZIPO is now running on a limited staff complement. The Controller of Patents, Trade Marks & Industrial Designs has however assured practitioners that the […]
May 19 2021
Fathers’ Rights in Divorce South Africa
The Children’s Act 38 of 2005 is watershed legislation designed to achieve many purposes, prime among them is ensuring the best interests of the child are guarded and treated as of paramount importance in any matter concerning a child. The Children’s Act may also go a long way in resolving archaic and gender-powered relations within […]
May 17 2021
The Gambia Ratifies Banjul But Questions Remain?
On 3 May 2021, the Government of the Republic of The Gambia deposited its Instrument of Ratification to the Banjul Protocol on Marks with the Director General of ARIPO. Accordingly, The Gambia will be eligible for designation under the Banjul Protocol with effect from 3 August 2021. The ratification of The Gambia to the Protocol […]
May 14 2021
Competition Commission Moves Toward Compulsory Small Merger Notification If Requirements Are Met
The Competition Commission (the “Commission”) has released proposed amendments to its guidelines to small merger notification, which are set to take effect after 7 June 2021. The guidelines have been introduced to address the Commission’s concerns regarding the increasing acquisitions of new innovative companies by established players, particularly in the digital markets. Due to the […]
May 13 2021
POPIA: Deadline Looming For Franchises
Various sections of the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (POPIA) came into effect on 1 July 2020. Since then, there has been a 12-month phase in period. This period will expire soon. On 1 July 2021, all businesses will have to be compliant with POPIA’s requirements. In a franchising context, this means that a […]
May 10 2021
Intellectual Property Law South Africa: Ways to Protect Your Intangible Assets
Intellectual property assets are vital for creating shareholder/stakeholder value and can oftentimes be more valuable to a business than tangible assets. Intellectual property value will vary from business to business. To recap from our previous article that elaborates on the types of intellectual property, IP law protects intangible assets such as patents, design, trade mark […]
May 07 2021
ARIPO Collaborations with the EUIPO and USPTO
ARIPO has actively been engaging with Registries across the globe over the past couple of months, as well as embarking on new projects and training sessions with others. In particular, there have recently been active projects between ARIPO and the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), as well as ARIPO and the United States Patent […]
May 04 2021
Online selling of counterfeit goods: countering the courier
The considerable diversion of consumers from shopping malls to online trading platforms, further driven by the Covid-19 pandemic, presents huge challenges to authorities in stopping unlawful goods from being distributed. Amazon took welcome initiative last year when they filed two separate joint US law suits with Valentino and KF Beauty against 4 companies and 16 […]
May 03 2021
King Price Company Ltd vs Concise Consulting Services (Pty) Ltd: When to Litigate and When Not To?
On 13 April 2021, the Supreme Court of Appeal delivered a full bench judgement on the matter between King Price Insurance Company Ltd (“the insurer”) and Concise Consulting Services (PTY) LTD (“the insured”). In a legal battle that has been lingering on for over 5 years, the insured has eventually come out as victor. A […]
May 02 2021
Anti-Counterfeiting Law in South Africa
Anti-counterfeiting legal advice is sought out by any person, or entity, whose intellectual property right has been infringed upon. These parties include authorised intellectual property right owners, licensees, importers, exporters, distributors or other authorised agents. The intellectual property rights that are protected by the Counterfeit Goods Act include registered trade marks, copyright, and well-known (yet […]
April 27 2021
A Smashing Tale of Two Burgers
The well-known RocoMamas restaurant chain has taken Rack ‘n Grill, a small food truck business in Cape Town, to task about the infringement of its registered trade mark SMASHBURGER. Rack ‘n Grill, in their menu, has a burger called the “Smash Burger”. RocoMamas recently sent a letter to the owner of Rack ‘n Grill, demanding […]
April 27 2021
Driving SME business success - Turning your idea into an IP asset
The introduction of enabling technology like artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, big data, and robotics has made it possible for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) to bring unique and innovative ideas to market quicker than ever before. However, to ensure that SMEs can effectively capitalise on ideas and innovations, Intellectual Property (IP) needs to […]
April 26 2021
To Defend or Not to Defend
Defending court actions are expensive for several reasons. Depending on the forum in which the action is instituted, the costs of defending claims can easily run into hundreds of thousands of Rands. Careful consideration should, therefore, be given to the costs of litigation prior to defending claims. Early Assessment of the Merits of the Claim […]
April 21 2021
Who Will Foot the Bill for COVID-19 Vaccine Complications?
The wait is finally over! South Africa’s vaccination roll-out plan is expected to go into overdrive shortly. However, in recent weeks it has been widely reported in the media that people have experienced severe side-effects, ranging from allergic reactions to blood clots, after receiving Covid-19 vaccines. Legal Position Elsewhere But who is to blame if […]
April 20 2021
Women married under Customary law finally have equal rights during divorce
CAPE TOWN – Women married under customary law will soon have equal rights to marital assets should they divorce. Their children will also have increased rights to inheritance. These are two major amendments made to the Customary Marriages Act passed by Parliament last month. Up until now, women married under customary law before 1998, had […]
April 19 2021
Trade Mark Infringement
A trade mark is an asset and will, through use over a period, accrue a value which will be taken into consideration in the event of a sale of a business and/or transfer of ownership. One can secure the registration of a trade mark, if it meets the registrability criteria in that it can distinguish […]
April 16 2021
Trade Secret Protection
Trade secrets are valuable, confidential intellectual property known only by a limited number of persons. A trade secret can be anything from a formula, to a recipe, that gives a company a competitive advantage. The unauthorised disclosure of this confidential information constitutes a violation of the trade secret, and legal action can be taken against this. […]
April 16 2021