A notice published on 11 December 2015 under the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 2002 (ECTA) extends the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) procedure that applies to .co.za names to .net.za, .web.za and .org.za names. We’ll have to wait and see…

Trade mark registrations are often attacked on the basis that they haven't been used for a continuous period of five years or longer. In many cases the trade mark owner can show use, and the focus is on other issues….

The Western Cape High Court recently handed down its judgment in the case of Truworths Ltd v Pepkor Retail (Pty) Ltd. The facts were unusual, and so is the judgment. The retailer, Truworths, had a registration for the trade mark…

Disputes regarding co.za names are generally handled outside of the courts using the specific Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) regulations that exist. Before these regulations were implemented, the thinking was that the best way of handling disputes of this nature was…

Trade mark non-use cases come up a lot. If a trade mark hasn’t been used for the goods or services covered by the registration for a continuous period of five years or more, the registration can be cancelled by a…

Spar recently released an alcohol advertisement for their Tops Liquor Store, wherein they stated: “Grab a drink and show off those PJ POWERS”. Spar received numerous complaints about the use of “PJ POWERS” in conjunction with the alcohol advertisement. PJ…

The prior use defence doesn’t come up often. It’s an unwieldy defence that goes like this: you’re not guilty of infringing a registered trade mark if you (or your predecessor in title) started using your trade mark before the registered…

The recent Gauteng High Court case of Chantelle v Designer Group (Pty) Ltd dealt with the tricky similar goods issue. In this case the mark was identical – one company had registered Chantelle for ladies undergarments (class 25), the other…

Love them or hate them, the Kardashians are a worldwide known brand name. The youngest in the family, Kylie and Kendall, have recently lodged a number of trade mark applications in the USA to legally protect their name. The two…

In the recent Gauteng case of TPN Group (Pty) Ltd v EBay Inc (16 March 2015) Judge Louw held that there was no likelihood of confusion between the marks EBay and Rentbay for the same or similar services in classes…