Trade Mark Registration

Protect your brand name and logo before someone else does.

Your brand is often one of your most valuable assets. Registering a trade mark under the Trade Marks Act gives you the exclusive right to use it for your goods or services and a much stronger position against copycats. Registering a company name with CIPC does not give you trade mark rights.

What we do

  • Clearance searches: checking the register for identical or confusingly similar marks before you invest in a brand.
  • Filing: preparing applications in the correct classes with accurate specifications.
  • Prosecution: responding to CIPC objections and managing the application to registration.
  • Oppositions: opposing conflicting applications, and defending yours.
  • Enforcement: letters of demand, infringement and passing-off claims, and domain name disputes.
  • Portfolio management: renewals, licensing and assignments.

Classes matter

Trade marks are registered in classes of goods and services under the international Nice Classification. Protection generally covers only the classes you register in, so choosing the right classes and wording is critical.

Protection lasts

A registered trade mark lasts for ten years and can be renewed indefinitely for further ten-year periods. A mark that is not used for a continuous period of five years can be vulnerable to removal.

Who we help

We assist:

  • Startups launching a new brand or product.
  • Businesses rebranding or expanding into new product lines.
  • Companies preparing for investment or sale, where investors expect IP to be secured.
  • Franchisors protecting the brand they license.
  • Businesses whose name is being copied by a competitor.
  • South African businesses expanding into other countries.

The registration process

From search to certificate.

  1. Search
    We search the trade marks register and advise on the risk of conflict with existing marks.
  2. Application
    The application is filed with CIPC in the relevant classes. Your filing date establishes your priority.
  3. Examination
    CIPC examines the application and may raise objections, for example that the mark is descriptive or conflicts with an earlier mark. We respond to these.
  4. Advertisement
    Once accepted, the application is advertised in the Patent Journal. Third parties then have three months to oppose it, which can be extended.
  5. Registration
    If there is no successful opposition, the mark is registered and a certificate is issued, backdated to the filing date.

Registration in South Africa protects your mark only in South Africa. If you trade or plan to trade abroad, separate protection is usually needed in each country or region, and it pays to plan this early.

GET IN TOUCH

What to prepare

Helpful information for a first meeting.

  • The name, logo or slogan you want to protect.
  • A description of your goods and services, now and planned.
  • The date you first started using the mark.
  • Details of any similar marks you are aware of.
  • The countries where you trade or plan to trade.

Common Questions

It varies with CIPC’s workload, but it often takes well over a year from filing to registration. Your rights date back to the filing date, so it is worth filing early.
No. A company name registration or domain name does not give you trade mark rights, and it does not stop someone else registering the name as a trade mark.
No. The ® symbol should only be used once a mark is registered, and misrepresenting a mark as registered can be an offence. You can use ™ to show that you claim the mark.
Unregistered marks can be protected through the common-law action of passing off, but it is harder and more expensive to prove. Registration gives much stronger, clearer rights.
Often both. A word mark protects the name in any style, while a logo mark protects the design. We advise on the most cost-effective approach for your business.

READY TO PROTECT YOUR BRAND?

We help businesses search, register and enforce their trade marks, in South Africa and abroad.

Read more: Intellectual property · Essential agreements when starting a company

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This page is general information and not legal advice.

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