CIPC Trade Mark Renewal South Africa : Companies & Intellectual Property Commission

Name of the Organization : Companies & Intellectual Property Commission
Type of Facility : Trade Mark Renewal
Location : Cape Town
Country : South Africa

Official Website : https://www.cipc.co.za/

Trade Mark Renewal :

Duration of a Trade Mark Registration :
A trade mark is registered for a period of 10 years, and the renewal date is determined from the date of application. A trade mark can be renewed indefinitely for subsequent periods of 10 years, upon payment of the prescribed renewal fees.

Related : CIPC Liquidating/ Winding up your Close Corporation South Africa : www.statusin.org/4971.html

Procedure :
** A renewal reminder will be sent to the trade mark proprietor, at its address for service, 6 months prior to the expiry date of the registered trade mark
** The proprietor of the registration however, also has a duty to ensure that the registration does not expire
** A form TM5 must be completed and lodged in duplicate for each trade mark to be renewed, on/or before the expiry date
** A prescribed fee of R260.00 is payable in respect of each trade mark that must be renewed
** In respect of a renewal application/s that is lodged within 6 months after the expiry date, an additional penalty fee of R48.00 (plus R260.00) is payable
** Where the renewal application/s is lodged more than 6 months after the expiry date, a further penalty fee of R145.00 (plus R260.00) is payable

Restorations :
If the renewal fee is not paid within the prescribed time period as set out above, the Registrar may remove the trade mark from the Register.

If a trade mark has been removed from the Register due to non-payment of the prescribed renewal fees, it may be restored through a restoration procedure :
A form TM2 must be completed and lodged, together with the prescribed fee of R190.00 per mark to be restored, in order for a Special Search to be conducted to determine whether an identical or confusingly similar trade mark was lodged during the period in which the lapsed trade mark was removed from the Trade Marks Register.

If the search results confirm that no identical or confusingly similar trade mark was lodged during that period, a form TM5 must be completed and lodged, together with the prescribed restoration fee of R405.00. In addition, an AFFIDAVIT from the proprietor indicating the reasons why the renewal fee was not paid timeously must accompany the application for restoration.

The Office will send a notice to the proprietor at his address for service, informing him that the restoration application has been processed. The office will further have this notice published in the Patent Journal, for opposition purposes.

The restoration will only be finalised and the status of the mark be updated in the Trade Marks Register if no opposition to the restoration is lodged within the prescribed three month period from the date of advertisement of the notice in the Patent Journal.