Legal updates and opinions
Authors
News / News
South Africa: Closure of the trade marks, designs and patents office during national lock-down
by Janine Hollesen, Director and Donvay Wegierski, Director
South Africa is currently in a 21 day national lockdown to combat the spread of COVID-19, scheduled to end on 16 April 2020. Our firm continues to operate remotely with lawyers and support staff working from their homes, as we do our part to stop the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
The Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) announced a closure of the Patents and Trade Marks Office from 26 March 2020 to 30 April 2020. During this period it will not be possible to file any trade mark, design or patent applications in South Africa. These days will be regarded as dies non and any deadlines that fall within this period will automatically be extended to the next normal business day. We expect the first normal business day to be 4 May 2020 due to 1 May 2020 being a national holiday.
We continue to render all our IP services throughout Africa in collaboration with our associate firms and will keep you informed of relevant changes and measures taken by the Patent and Trade Mark Offices in other African countries.
We take this opportunity to wish you, your families and loved ones good health, safety and wellbeing and we believe that we if continue to stand together to support each other we will get through this difficult time. Werksmans continues to publish COVID-related information, including legislative developments which may impact you, your business and your clients. For up to date information please visit www.werksmans.com.
Stay safe and healthy.
Latest News
Automatic transfers of employment – the strength of Section 197
Through the introduction of section 197 of the Labour Relations Act, 66 of 1995 (LRA) the idea was introduced into South [...]
Foreign employers, foreign employees and remote workers and South African labour laws – do they always apply?
and Kelly Sease, Candidate Attorney The Labour Relations Act ("LRA") amongst other important functions, regulates the rights of employees whose [...]
Previous renewal does not automatically constitute an expectation of re-renewal
and Tasreeq Ferreira, Candidate Attorney Issue Whether the non-renewal of an employee's fixed term contract ("FTC")constituted an unfair dismissal as [...]
Taking stock of collective misconduct
and Nombulelo Bashe, Candidate Attorney The retail sector is often burdened with the issue of stock losses or shrinkage. Employers [...]
Celebrating Heritage Month: The Xibelani Dance
In our recent article, we discussed the challenges of safeguarding traditional cultural expressions within conventional intellectual property regimes. We now [...]
Legal Due Diligences for private equity transactions: a powerful tool if used correctly
and Francisca Heese, Candidate Attorney Local and cross-border private equity investors continue to support the growth and development of companies [...]
