Trade Mark Registration Services

Why Register a Trade Mark?

Businesses spend time, money and energy to build their brands. A single word, slogan or logo a trade mark – contains all your hard work and reputation. It’s the reason you drink Coca-Cola and not Yummy-Cola. It can become the most valuable asset your business owns.

By registering a trade mark, you:

  • Protect your business (or artistic) identity from competition
  • Discourage others from choosing a similar (or identical) mark, and can stop others from using a confusingly similar (or identical) one
  • Protect your reputation and prevent your products or services being confused with other inferior quality products or services
  • Can demand royalty payments from others that used your registered mark without permission
  • Can securitise, license, franchise and sell your brand
  • Have legal proof of the first use of your mark
  • Have concrete proof of your brand ownership, which may save you the expense of arguing in court
  • May avoid an expensive rebrand in future
  • Increase your brand’s value

Trade Mark Registration

1.

ADVICE

We can advise you on:

  • Suitability of your brand for use and registration
  • Protecting and increasing your brand’s value
  • Other trade mark-related matters in South Africa and internationally

2.

SEARCH

We search for similar brands on the South African Trade Mark Register (or abroad) that could block the registration of your trade mark. The results help us tailor our filing strategy, increasing the possibility of successful registration.

3.

REGISTRATION

We will administer the entire registration process, ensuring your brand is legally protected and owned by you. This includes:

Step 1: Filing your mark

A trade mark is protected from the first moment of filing (if it proceeds to registration), which is the first step of the application process involved in registering your trade mark.

We will:

  • Establish a filing strategy to increase the likelihood of successful registration
  • Identify the applicable classes of products or services
  • Prepare the specification of products or services for the relevant classes
  • File applications with the Company and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC)

Step 2: Examination of your mark

After about 12 months, CIPC will examine the application and either accept, provisionally refuse, or accept subject to conditions.

We will:

  • Report the examiner’s response and strategize with you to comply with the
    examiner’s conditions or overcome the provisional refusal
  • Respond to the examiner satisfying their conditions or take steps to overcome
    the provisional refusal

Step 3: Advertising and Registration

Once accepted, we will have your application advertised in the South African Patent Journal for opposition purposes.

We will:

  • Provide a strategy and assist with negotiation or litigation, if an opposition
    is lodged
  • Draft your registration certificate and finalize the procedure, if no opposition
    is lodged or an opposition has been overcome

4.

OTHER TRADE MARK SERVICES

We provide a range of other Trade Mark services.

Renewal and Ongoing Services

We will:

  • Diarise and remind you when trade mark registrations become renewable
  • Be the address for service for any correspondence related to the trade marks
  • Notify you of any potentially conflicting trade marks

Miscellaneous Services

We offer services:

  • Assigning a trade mark from one person to another and recording it on
    the Register
  • Changing the name or address of a trade mark owner on the Register
  • Obtaining a new trade mark certificate
  • Removing conflicting trade marks from the Register
  • Restoring your trade marks that have been removed from the Register
  • Many other services

Trade Mark Registration

SEARCH SERVICE

PRICE

Exact Match Search

We check whether your specific brand is already taken in your category of goods or services. This search may not locate confusingly similar brands.

FREE

Limited Search

We conduct a limited search of the most similar categories of goods or services for brands similar to yours and provide a short opinion on its availability, with 70% reliability.

R700.00 - R1 000.00

Full Search

We conduct a full search of all similar categories of goods or services for brands similar to yours and provide a full opinion on its availability, with 95% reliability.

R1 990.00

TRADE MARK APPLICATION

PRICE

Trade Mark Application (first class)

R2 990.00

Trade Mark Application (per additional class)

R1 990.00

FINALIZATION OF REGISTRATION (12+ MONTHS AFTER FILING)

PRICE

Finalizing trade mark registration (first class) (arranging advertising and registration certificate)

R1 500.00

Finalizing trade mark registration (per additional class)

R500.00