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Trade marks: changes to the Canadian trade marks act
On 17 June 2019 the Canadian Trade Marks Act will be introducing several changes pursuant to it joining the Madrid Protocol. The most significant changes are [...]
South African musician Daniel Baron vs David Guetta
A South African artist, Daniel Baron has accused David Guetta of copying his 2016 song, "Children of the Sun". As far as can be seen from [...]
Informal complaint initiation – complaints initiated on a ‘wink and a nod’
INTRODUCTION A recent decision by the Supreme Court of Appeal ("SCA") has given the Competition Commission (the "Commission") some latitude to initiate a complaint against a [...]
Employee’s right to privacy
By Bradley Workman-Davies, Director and Mishkah Abdool Sattar, Candidate Attorney In National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa and other v Rafee NO and others (2017) [...]
#METOO in the workplace: how to prevent and address sexual harassment
By Jacques van Wyk, Director and Chelsea Roux, Candidate Attorney INTRODUCTION Awareness of sexual harassment in the workplace has become particularly pronounced over recent years due [...]
The national minimum wage act is now law
By Bradley Workman-Davies, Director On 23 November 2018, the president of the Republic of South Africa ("RSA"), Cyril Ramaphosa, assented to and signed into law the [...]
New system to be launched to expose non-compliance with the national minimum wage act 9 of 2018
By Jacques van Wyk, Director and Chelsea Roux, Candidate Attorney On 7 March 2019, the Department of Labour ("DOL") released a media brief noting that the [...]
National Minimum Wage Bill tabled in Parliament
By Jacques van Wyk, Director and Chelsea Roux, Candidate Attorney The Portfolio Committee on Labour met in January 2019 to discuss a possible amendment to the [...]
Don’t be intimidated into relying on a SARS interpretation note
The SARS states, on its website (www.sars.gov.za), that its "Interpretation Notes are intended to provide guidelines to stakeholders (both internal and external) on the interpretation and [...]
Directors’ liability and the competition commission’s corporate leniency policy for cartel contraventions
The Corporate Leniency Policy ("CLP") was published by the Competition Commission in 2004 and remains the principal tool employed by the Commission in cartel investigations and [...]
Trade Marks: USA and Consent Agreements
Anyone who has a commercial presence in the USA or intends entering the US market will know that the United States Trade Mark Office ("USPTO") is [...]
Employee’s right to privacy
In National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa and other v Rafee NO and others (2017) JOL 37705 (LC), the court weighed up the competing interest [...]
Is a pre-suspension hearings necessary for a precautionary suspension?
By Jacques van Wyk, Director and Chelsea Roux, Candidate Attorney ISSUE Whether there is a requirement for a pre-suspension hearing in the case of a precautionary [...]
How long is too long? Suspension of an employee pending a disciplinary process
By Bradley Workman-Davies, Director and Mishkah Abdool Sattar, Candidate Attorney Very often, an employee is suspended while an investigation is conducted into allegations of misconduct, or [...]
National minimum wage amendment bill, 2019
By Jacques van Wyk, Director and Unathi Jukuda, Candidate Attorney On 22 February 2019 the Portfolio Committee on Labour published a notice in the Government Gazette [...]
Use it or lose it!
By Janine Hollesen, Head of Intellectual Property Practice It is important that a trade mark is used as non-use could lead to the cancellation of the [...]
How long is too long? Suspension of an employee pending a disciplinary process
By Bradley Workman-Davies, Director and Mishkah Abdool Sattar, Candidate Attorney Very often, an employee is suspended while an investigation is conducted into allegations of misconduct, or [...]
Mining charter 2018 – key elements in the implementation guidelines
By Chris Stevens, Head of Mining & Resources Practice, Kathleen Louw, Director and Bronwyn Parker, Senior Associate INTRODUCTION The Mining Charter, 2018 was gazetted on 27 [...]
Court victory enables asylum seekers to claim unemployment benefits
By: The Werksmans Pro Bono Team For many years, asylum seekers attempting to claim benefits from the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) have routinely been turned away by [...]
Fixed term contracts – how are they justified?
The use of fixed term contracts of employment appeals to employers for a number of reasons, some of which are legitimate and others of which are [...]
A dismissal arising out of a failure to work overtime for religious reasons may be found to be automatically unfair
By: Jacques van Wyk, Director; Andre van Heerden, Senior Associate and Chelsea Roux, Candidate Attorney ISSUE Whether the dismissal of an employee who refused to work [...]
Woolworths Vs Ubuntu Baba Saga
2019 certainly started with a bang for Woolworths when social media carried the story of its sale of a baby carrier, which Woolworths had stated was [...]
Cutting edge issues for south african boards of directors facing financial distress in 2019
INTRODUCTION Over the years, South African directors have, from time to time been faced with claims of malfeasance, reckless trading, fraud and negligent behaviour, all of [...]
African competition law developments in 2018 and the outlook for 2019
Africa is sometimes described as the "last frontier" of competition law. This observation arises because many African countries have only recently adopted modern competition laws (South [...]
Brexit And Trade Marks – What Is Next
The following considerations and time frames concerning trade marks in the UK are expected to apply to European Trade Marks (“EUTM’s”)*: The UK and EU reach [...]
