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SOUTH AFRICA : 2010 FIFA WORLD CUP™ |
| A few years ago , South Africa won the right to host the 2010 Soccer World Cup, being the biggest sporting event outside the Summer Olympics and soccer the world's most popular sport.
The 2006 World Cup is already a memory, and a bad one at that for certain nations(no names mentioned!) |
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| The purpose of this notice is to alert all our clients to the benefits of timely protection of your trade mark rights in South Africa and surrounding territories as brand consumption and related commercial opportunities will escalate rapidly prior to and during the tournament. |
Please refer to the following article '2010 Bonanza' |
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| As was the position during the Rugby World Cup (1995) and the Cricket World Cup (2003) both held in South Africa unscrupulous traders and pirates tended to seek opportunities at the expense of the legitimate brand owners by unlawful copying, counterfeiting, ambush marketing, etc. Unfortunately, it is probable that copycats will be trying their luck by plying their trade again! |
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| It is therefore recommended that you should you be planning to launch new brands please bear in mind remind that typically it takes three to four years for a trade mark to proceed to registration from date of filing in South Africa (in the absence of refusal by the Registrar and/or opposition by third parties). Accordingly, it would be prudent for you to file such marks as soon as possible. |
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| Moreover, due to the close proximity of various southern African countries and the likely interchange of branded goods and/or services you should also consider obtaining trade mark protection in countries like Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Mozambique and Mauritius, etc. |
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| Once relevant countries have been targeted it would be prudent to conduct searches to check that the proposed mark/s are available for use and registration. Please note that we are able to provide you with a full search opinion on your prospects of successfully using and registering your subject mark/s in South Africa within twenty-four hours of instruction (subject to the Trade Marks Office computer system functioning). |
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| Securing early registration will enable you to exploit your marks commercially prior to the full-scale merchandising and licensing by competitors. Moreover, once you have secured trade mark registrations you are, of course, well positioned to licence, assign and on the whole, commercially exploit any such rights. |
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| Thereafter, we can, if you so wish, carefully survey and watch conflicting trade marks and counterfeit products. We will also be able to swiftly implement appropriate steps to terminate any unlawful use of your trade marks. |
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| We are also able to assist in acquiring protection of your marks in all Southern African Development Community. For your information, these countries are: |
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| Angola |
Botswana |
| Dem. Rep. of Congo (DRC) |
Lesotho |
| Malawi |
Mauritius |
| Mozambique |
Namibia |
| Seychelles |
South Africa |
| Swaziland |
Tanzania |
| Zambia |
Zimbabwe |
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