South Africa: Trademark

When searching for Adams & Adams, another IP firm appeared in the sponsored Google results. That, in itself, is not unusual. As the largest IP firm in our market, competitors will sometimes bid on our name as a keyword.

As celebrities like Taylor Swift, Luke Littler, and Matthew McConaughey increasingly turn to trade mark law to protect their voices, faces, and personal likenesses from AI-generated deepfakes, a critical question emerges: can trade mark registration truly safeguard personal identity in the age of generative AI? This article examines the legal strategies, commercial rationale, and inherent limitations of using trade mark law as a shield against unauthorized exploitation of celebrity personas.

With just weeks to the beginning of the World Cup, that will be jointly hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico, the world will be focusing on the pitch. However, almost everything that makes this multibillion-dollar business remains invisible to people.

As a trade mark attorney, few case studies illustrate the intersection of branding and protection strategy quite as neatly as the transformation of Lotus Bakeries...

The relationship between political power and trade mark strategy has never been more vividly illustrated than in the build-up to the United States' 250th anniversary...

We recently discussed Taylor Swift seeking to prevent the registration by a third party of a trade mark incorporating SWIFT. This time around, Swift is on the receiving end...

In the late 1990s a tussle over Rolls‑Royce played out between Volkswagen ("VW") and BMW. While Volkswagen paid more for the carmaker, it was BMW who ended up with the brand.

An interesting matter dealing with children's food packaging was reported recently, where the underlying dispute overlaps beautifully with the world of Intellectual Property - in particular...

South Africa has officially adopted the 13th Edition of the Nice Classification (NCL 13-26) with effect from 1 January 2026, following its implementation by the World Intellectual Property Office on the same date.