News
 Published in Engineering News, Friday 1 October 2010 |
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The SCA held in the Verimark case that use of a mark, otherwise than as a trade mark, does not amount to trade mark infringement . A question that arises is whether or not the decorative use of a mark amounts to trade mark use and what factors should be taken into account in making the determination? |
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The Adams & Adams Cheetahs team took gold in the recent Business Relay race in the legal category – for the fifth year in a row. Also in the legal category, the Adams & Adams’ walking team passed the finishing line first. |
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“Legislation cannot be implemented unless it has the necessary framework of regulations to put it into effect." So says Adams & Adams Senior Consultant Esmé du Plessis in an article on the polity.org.za website. The article relates to the correct implementation of the Intellectual Property (IP) Rights from Publicly Financed Research and Development Act, which affects a number of South African universities, institutions and research councils, as well as funding entities. The article also quotes Adams & Adams Chairperson Dario Tanziani. To see the full article, click here. |
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 After an initial "false start", we are now able to advise that the new Uganda Trademarks Act no. 17, 2010 was published in the Gazette on 03 September and has come into operation as of that date. |
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The country code for the Top Level Domain (ccTLD) assigned to The Republic of Somalia, is the domain extension .so. This will be re-launched as an unrestricted ccTLD. According to current draft policies, the following extensions will be available for registration: |
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The UK domain name registry has announced that it intends to release short domain names (two and three character domain names) before the end of 2010. Characters corresponding to an existing Second Level Domain in .uk shall not be permitted as a Third Level Domain with the domain name extensions .co.uk, .me.uk, .org.uk and .net.uk. At present this includes ac, co. gov, ltd, me. mil, mod, net, nhs, nic , org, plc, police, com, uk and sch. There will be a two-stage sunrise and a landrush release process. |
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 In November 2004, Cadac (Pty) Limited (“Cadac”) introduced a barbeque kettle grill which led to a claim of trade mark infringement and counterfeiting by Weber-Stephen Products Co (“Weber-Stephen”), the owner of trade marks which relate to the shape and configuration of barbeque kettle grills. Weber-Stephen had obtained seizure warrants in terms of the Counterfeit Goods Act 37 of 1997 (“the CG Act”), which were executed during the Christmas period in 2004. Kettle grills in the possession of Cadac and also its dealers were seized. |
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Law firm Adams & Adams has received no fewer than ten national and international awards for excellence. The British based ACQ Finance Magazine has bestowed awards on the firm in five categories for South Africa for 2010 – Trademarks Law Firm of the Year, Competition Law Firm of the Year, Commercial Litigation Law Firm of the Year, Franchise Law Firm of the Year and Patents Law Firm of the Year. |
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 On 23 September 2010, Mr. Rob Davies, the Minister of Trade and Industry, issued a notice in terms of which the general effective date of the Consumer Protection Act will be deferred until 31 March 2011. |
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 In our article ‘Precious Privilege’, published in the August 2010 edition of Without Prejudice, we commented, from a South African perspective, on the advice provided by the Advocate General of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in Akzo Nobel Chemicals Limited v Commission of the European Communities concerning the extension of legal professional privilege to in-house lawyers. In its decision on 14 September 2010, the ECJ found in accordance with the views expressed by the Advocate General and consequently held that in-house counsel have no right to legal professional privilege in cartel investigations carried out by the European Commission. |
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 Assignments of trade marks where no prior Treasury approval has been obtained – the Reddot / Oilwell conundrum |
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 The Advocate General of the European Court of Justice (ECJ), in advising the Court on its approach in Akzo Nobel Chemicals Ltd v Commission of the European Communities, recently advanced the view that communications between parties and their in-house lawyers should not be afforded the protection of legal professional privilege from disclosure during competition investigations by the European Commission. |
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 Abstract: Amendment of section 81 of the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act No. 10 of 2004 and the introduction of a new section 81A in terms of the National Environmental Laws Amendment Act No. 14 of 2009 would remove the regulatory compliance lag at the onset of a bioprospecting project. However, although the National Environmental Laws Amendment Act No. 14 of 2009 was assented to on 25 May 2009, the date on which it will come into force has not been announced. The Regulations have also not been revised by the Minister of Environmental Affairs. |
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The firm practises directly in several Southern African countries and through long-established associates in others.
