The Scent Of A Trademark: Removal Of Graphic Representability Requirement

he EU Directive 2015/2436 (“The Directive”), which aims to approximate the laws of the member states relating to trademarks, discards the graphic representation requirement for trademark applications. We will look into the potential impact on trademark registration and have a glimpse at the challenges that might arise from it.

According to the new definition of signs which are capable of constituting a trademark, provided by the EU Directive 2015/2436, the capability of the graphic representation of […]

By | March 1st, 2019 ||

Do The Recent UK Trade Mark Amendments Apply To South Africa?

Certain amendments to the UK Trade Marks Act 1994 and their Trade Mark Rules 2008 came into effect on 14 January 2019. These changes implement the EU Trade Mark Directive 2015 in the UK. In other words these changes have been made and are now effective, in all EU countries.

These amendments (or any other amendment made), however, do not apply to South Africa – although our Trade Marks Act, when passed into law, was […]

By | March 1st, 2019 ||

Copyright Enforcement Across Africa

Most African countries have their own IP laws, (some of which were inherited from colonial powers) or modified versions of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Copyright Treaty. Many of these laws have proved ineffective against the debilitating effects of copyright infringement.

The protection and enforcement of Intellectual Property rights is pivotal to the development of the creative industry. In recognition of this, some African countries have tried to invigorate creative endeavour by reviewing extant […]

By | November 13th, 2018 ||