HomeAbout UsLocal Trade Mark FilingsForeign Trade Mark FilingsFIFAARIPOOAPIContact Us| Intellectual Property and Registered Trade Marks - Springbok Emblem Dear Sir, The Government compelling SA Rugby to stop using the Springbok Emblem could cost the country plenty. The Springbok Emblem is a registered trade mark. It has been used by SA Rugby in relation to its activities and the sport of rugby for many decades on an extensive scale and has acquired an enormous repute. It is probably one of the best known trade marks/emblems in the country. It is also famous internationally. All of this translates into it being a very valuable item of intellectual property. Nowadays the value of trade marks can be reliably calculated and this is an everyday process accepted by none other than the Receiver of Revenue, not to mention by financial institutions and the business community. The world’s most valuable trade mark is COCA COLA and it has been valued at many billions of US dollars. At a rough estimate I would say that the Springbok Emblem would be valued at many millions of Rands. It is a substantial asset and it constitutes property belonging to SA Rugby. The Constitutional Court has ruled that trade marks and other forms of intellectual property constitute “property” under the Constitution. The Bill of Rights in the Constitution provides that no-one may be deprived of his property without payment of appropriate compensation. This provision applies to a registered trade mark. Thus a trade mark proprietor cannot be deprived of his trade mark by the State without the State paying adequate compensation to him. The position is analogous to the expropriation of land. The person being deprived of his property is generally entitled to compensation in the amount of the market value of the property. A registered trade mark which falls into disuse becomes liable to cancellation on that basis. If the Government prevents SA Rugby from using the Springbok Emblem, it will become liable to cancellation and it would then be extinguished, thereby depriving SA Rugby of its property. This form of Government action would thus entitle SA Rugby to claim the market value of the trade mark as compensation from the State, i.e. effectively you and me as taxpayers. There are in my view many reasons why the Springbok Emblem should be retained, not in the least being its significance of a symbol of hope and reconciliation when Nelson Mandela, wearing a Springbok rugby jersey - together with Francois Pienaar - hoisted the World Cup trophy aloft in 1995. One cannot help but question the wisdom of destroying such a valuable symbol and item of private property while paying through the neck for the “privilege” of doing so. I am sure that the taxpayers’ money can be better spent elsewhere. Dr O.H. Dean Stellenbosch P.S. I might mention that I am an attorney with the firm Spoor & Fisher, specialising in the practice of trade mark law. |
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