South Africa: Intellectual Property

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Intellectual property law and copyright law thought leadership, articles, podcasts, videos and webinars from expert sources across the legal world. Explore insights covering topics such as licensing and syndication, patent law, trade secrets and trademark law.

Genuine Use Of A Trade Mark -The WONDERGIRL Case

A recent EU trade mark decision involving the companies Copenhagen Studios GmbH and Hoboken Inversiones, S.L, and the trade mark WONDERGIRL deals with an application to cancel a trade mark registration...

South Africa IP

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ENS

A Calvin Klein Trade Mark Opposition

In this article, we discuss a recent European Union ("EU") trade mark opposition judgment, the case of Calvin Klein Trademark Trust v Wu He, where the decision was handed down on 28 April 2025.

European Union IP

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ENS

Trade Mark Dispute: URIZONE vs FURIZOME

Adcock manufactures, markets and supplies a medicine called URIZONE under license from an Italian company called Zambon S.P.A. URIZONE is a broad-spectrum...

South Africa IP

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Colour Trade Marks In The EU - The Biscoffi Case

In this article, we discuss colour trade marks where we take a look at the Biscoffi case, the recent EU colour trade mark decision in the matter of Lotus Bakeries v European Intellectual Property...

European Union IP

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Update On The Never-Ending Tammy Taylor Dispute

South Africa IP

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South African Photographer Accused Of Intellectual Property Infringement

South Africa IP

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A Tale Of Charms And Copycats – The Poetry IP Scandal

South Africa IP

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ENS

Understanding The Financials: Principled Negotiations During IP Valuation

South Africa IP

BI

Barnard Inc.

In-Depth: Principled Negotiations After Your IP Portfolio Has Been Valued

South Africa IP

BI

Barnard Inc.

Your Brand Name In Lights

South Africa IP

BI

Barnard Inc.

Summary Of Aspen v Adcock [2025] 017055-25

South Africa IP

AA

Adams & Adams

The Apple vs. Optis Patent Dispute: A Lesson In Patent Infringement And Licensing

South Africa IP

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ENS

First-To-File In Africa Trade Mark Filing Packages

South Africa IP

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Compulsory Licences - The ALLCOPY Copyright Case

South Africa IP

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Harnessing Technology To Drive Innovation And Excellence In Internal Audit By Ria Pretorius (Video)

South Africa Accounting

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SNG Grant Thornton

The X Corp (Formerly Twitter) Patent Infringement Drama

South Africa IP

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ENS

Young AFSA Webinar – Session 3 (Video)

South Africa Litigation

Deale Attorneys

Primary Obligations vs Secondary Obligations And Accepting Repudiation – Be Careful What You Wish For

South Africa Litigation

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Standard Bank vs. SARB: Important Ruling On Cryptocurrencies And South African Exchange Controls

South Africa Technology

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Related Country Guides

Patent Litigation

Trademark Disputes

Copyright

A Tale Of Charms And Copycats – The Poetry IP Scandal

This story is currently making headlines in South Africa, with well-known and beloved local brand, Poetry, embroiled in a growing controversy over alleged design imitation and intellectual property infringement...

South Africa IP

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Dua Lipa May Be Levitating, But South African Copyright Law Is Pretty Static

We don't get as many opportunities to write on copyright matters as we would like, but we now have a great opportunity to write about a copyright dispute...

South Africa IP

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Compulsory Licences - The ALLCOPY Copyright Case

Copyright judgments are rare in South Africa and findings of the Copyright Tribunal are even rarer.

South Africa IP

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South Africa's Copyright Amendment Bill: Balancing Creators' Rights And Public Access In The Digital Age

South Africa IP

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Inventa

Compulsory Licences – Part 2

South Africa IP

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ENS

Who Really Owns Your Code? Understanding Authorship And Ownership In Software Copyright

South Africa IP

BI

Barnard Inc.

There Is No Such Thing As A "Sole & Exclusive" Licence

South Africa IP

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ENS

Advancing IP Education In Africa: Highlights From The WIPO-South Africa Summer School On Intellectual Property

South Africa IP

AA

Adams & Adams

Meta's AI Training Under Fire: Copyright Infringement Allegations

South Africa IP

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ENS

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Licensing & Syndication

The Apple vs. Optis Patent Dispute: A Lesson In Patent Infringement And Licensing

As patent litigation continues to reshape the tech landscape, the ongoing case between Apple and Optis Cellular Technology highlights...

South Africa IP

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Viewing The SARB's Exchange Control Revisions Through An IP Licensing Lens

A recent scenario involved a South African company structuring an intellectual property (IP) licensing agreement with an offshore partner.

South Africa IP

FW

Fairbridges Wertheim Becker

How Copyright Applies To Free-to-copy Open-source Software

"There is nothing new under the sun" – a fact truer than ever in the information age. More specifically, open-source software has propelled the world into an era where developers...

South Africa IP

BI

Barnard Inc.

Foreign Electronic Certification Service Providers Now Recognised By The CA

South Africa Media & IT

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Bowmans

TikTok: Now To The Copyright And Political Issues

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Proposed Changes To South African Exchange Controls Relating To The Transfer And License Of SA-Owned Intellectual Property

South Africa International

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Adams & Adams

Compulsory Licenses In A Pandemic

South Africa IP

AA

Adams & Adams

Relaxation Of South Africa's Exchange Control Regulations Pertaining To IP Transactions

South Africa IP

KI

KISCH IP

ICASA Publishes Information Memorandum On High-Demand Spectrum

South Africa IP

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Patent

Understanding The Financials: Principled Negotiations During IP Valuation

We have spoken about principled negotiations between start-up entrepreneurs and potential funders of the new venture in an earlier article.

South Africa IP

BI

Barnard Inc.

In-Depth: Principled Negotiations After Your IP Portfolio Has Been Valued

IP Valuation is a specialised field, as was explained in our previous article. In summary, our IP Valuation hypothesis is rooted in sustainability, illustrated by two interdependent trend lines...

South Africa IP

BI

Barnard Inc.

The Apple vs. Optis Patent Dispute: A Lesson In Patent Infringement And Licensing

As patent litigation continues to reshape the tech landscape, the ongoing case between Apple and Optis Cellular Technology highlights...

South Africa IP

E

ENS

The X Corp (Formerly Twitter) Patent Infringement Drama

South Africa IP

E

ENS

The Dangers Of Relying On LLMs For Invention Research

South Africa IP

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ENS

Compulsory Licences - The ALLCOPY Copyright Case

South Africa IP

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ENS

Africa's Hidden Treasures: The WIPO Treaty Revolution

South Africa IP

AA

Adams & Adams

Charting The Stars: Strengthening Africa's IP Frameworks For Space Innovation

South Africa IP

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Inventa

From Coffee To Wine: How GIs Shape Africa's Agricultural Legacy

South Africa IP

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Inventa

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Trade Secrets

Putting The "Claws" Into A Restraint Of Trade

In an increasingly competitive business landscape, one of the most common legal tools to protect a company's trade secrets, confidential information, and customer relationships, is a restraint of trade clause.

South Africa Employment

BI

Barnard Inc.

Trade Secrets - China And South Africa

Trade secrets play an important, yet somewhat surprisingly low key, role in intellectual property (IP) law. In this article, we discuss a recent trade secrets case in China.

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ENS

Nobel Prize In The Bag – Time To Make Money

There was a fascinating article in the IPKat blog about the AI programme AlphaFold recently. So, what is this all about...

South Africa IP

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High Court Of Uganda Delivers Landmark Judgment On Copyright Dispute: Knight Frank Uganda Ltd v Broll Uganda Ltd And Broll Valuation & Advisory Services

South Africa IP

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Copy Or Compete? Unpacking The Shein vs. Temu Legal Showdown

South Africa IP

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Spoofed! Protecting Your Intellectual Property From Digital Fakes

South Africa IP

BI

Barnard Inc.

Intellectual Property Valuation: How Long Is A Piece Of String?

South Africa IP

BI

Barnard Inc.

Technical Systems And Secrets

South Africa IP

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Trade Secrets Revisited

South Africa IP

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ENS

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Latest Videos

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Investing In Africa | Intellectual Property (Video)

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Lack Of Global Consensus On Rules For The Taxation Of Multinationals And The Risk Of A Global Trade War (Video)

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PwC Nigeria

Jadon Wolmarans Interviewed On eNCA For World Anti-Counterfeit Day 2019 (Video)

KI

KISCH IP

A ‘Triple Distilled' Summary Of Recent Trade Mark SCA Cases (Video)

AA

Adams & Adams

Protect Your Brand – Advice To Start-Ups (Video Content)

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TripleOKLaw

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