Case Law
 The Supreme Court of Appeal today upheld an appeal against a judgment in the Court of the Commissioner of Patents in terms of which that court ordered a plaintiff who is resident in South Africa to provide security for the costs of three of the defendants. |
| 11/03/2008 | Posted in: Intellectual Property and Patents |
 In an order dated 28 January 2008, the Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa has dismissed (with costs) an application by McDonalds International Property Co. Limited for leave to appeal against a decision of the Full Bench of the Transvaal Provincial Division of the High Court upholding an earlier decision of the Registrar of Trade Marks refusing cancellation of the McBiscuit trade mark registration on the basis of several registrations for Mc and Mac trade marks. |
| 29/01/2008 | Posted in: Trade Marks and Intellectual Property |
 In a recent decision, the Advertising Standards Authority (“ASA”) Directorate ruled that a combination of seemingly generic elements, when used together in a certain way, was the exclusive advertising property of a mobile telecommunications provider and that these had been imitated by a fast-food chain in its advertising. |
| 24/01/2008 | Posted in: Trade Marks and Intellectual Property |
 Anthony Hamilton Russell and Southern Right Cellars (Pty) Limited have corked Bonnievale Co-op Wynkelders Beperk’s sale of a range of wines under the trade mark Southern Lights. |
| 19/12/2007 | Posted in: Trade Marks and Intellectual Property |
 VELCRO USA Inc, the complainant, is the proprietor of various registered trade marks for the mark VELCRO in various territories in respect of “loop and hook fasteners” The respondent, a competitor in Asia for several years, registered the domain name china-velcro.com to which the complainant objected. As a defence, the respondent argued that the mark VELCRO has been used by third parties for several decades to describe ”loop and hook fasteners” and has become generic. |
| 19/12/2007 | Posted in: Trade Marks and Intellectual Property |
 A preliminary injunction was granted recently against a set of controversial new rules from the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). |
| 8/12/2007 | Posted in: Intellectual Property and Patents |
 FIFA secured a transfer of the domain name fifa.co.za after it successfully objected to the registration of the domain name in the name of X Yin (“the Registrant”), by lodging a complaint with the South African Institute of Intellectual Property Law, the recently accredited alternative dispute resolution provider for domain names in the .co.za name space. |
| 30/11/2007 | Posted in: Trade Marks and Intellectual Property |
 McDonald's International Property Co. Ltd vs Dean Desmond Gianni and the Registrar of Trade Marks, an unreported Appeal decision of the Full Bench of the Transvaal Provincial Division of the High Court of South Africa in Case No. 1998/09833 delivered 2 October 2007. |
| 22/10/2007 | Posted in: Trade Marks and Intellectual Property |
 The very first case in which a cyber squatter was ordered to transfer a .co.za domain name to a South African brand owner has just been handed down. The complainant was Telkom SA Limited. The domain name |
| 11/09/2007 | Posted in: Intellectual Property and IT Law |
 Commercial Auto Glass (Pty) Limited has been unsuccessful in its appeal against a judgment of the Transvaal Provincial Division of the High Court interdicting it from infringing the registered trade marks BMW, BM and 3-SERIES, and the unregistered well-known trade marks E30, E36 and E46, of BMW AG. |
| 7/09/2007 | Posted in: Trade Marks and Intellectual Property |
 On 16 July 2007 the Final Appeal Committee of the Advertising Standards Authority handed down a lip-smacking ruling in the matter between Carma Laboratories Inc. (the Complainant) and Avid Brands SA (Pty) Ltd (the Respondent) which makes it clear that South African businesses should be wary of copying the advertising of internationally sold products. |
| 27/07/2007 | Posted in: Intellectual Property and Registered Designs |
 In the Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa : A P Lubbe N.O. and others vs Millennium Style (Pty) Limited and others : judgment delivered 16 March 2007 (Case No. 69/06) In a scathing judgment, the Supreme Court of Appeal has dismissed an application by the Appellants, who are the trustees of a trust, to restrain the Respondent from using various trade marks comprising design features applied to the soles of footwear. |
| 20/03/2007 | Posted in: Trade Marks and Intellectual Property |
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Puma AG Rudolf Dassler Sport vs Global Warming (Pty) Limited : Judgment of The Cape Of Good Hope Provincial Division of the High Court of South Africa dated 14 March 2007 (Case No. 1546/2002). |
| 19/03/2007 | Posted in: Trade Marks and Intellectual Property |
 The LOTTO cases : Online Lottery Services (Pty) Limited v National Lotteries Board and Others [2007] 1 All SA 618(T) Rights in the LOTTO trade mark were the subject of two applications to the Pretoria High Court recently which were heard simultaneously. |
| 15/03/2007 | Posted in: Trade Marks and Intellectual Property |
 The applicant is a company registered in Rotterdam, Netherlands, and trades in and controls the trade in a large range of products, largely alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. The respondent is a close corporation and offers for sale T-shirts bearing marks which are similar to a number of well-known trade marks, including those of the applicant. It does so through advertising on the internet. |
| Download PDF | 16/04/2003 | Posted in: Trade Marks and Intellectual Property |
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The firm practises directly in several Southern African countries and through long-established associates in others.
