The protection of scent, taste and sound marks in South Africa: Threats and possibilities

• Pages: 16-33
• Author: Mupangavanhu, Y.
• Citation: (2017) IPLJ 16
• Date: 24 May 2019
• Published date: 24 May 2019

THE PROTECTION OF SCENT,

TASTE AND SOUND MARKS IN

SOUTH AFRICA: THREATS AND

POSSIBILITIES



Senior Lecture r, Faculty of Law, Universit y of the Western Cape

  

Non-traditional ma rks, also known as non-conventional m arks, include,

inter alia, sound ma rks, texture mark s, gesture marks, t aste marks and smell

marks.1

   2 The rationale is that

a mark that adds emotion t o the product or the service on offer is li kely to

     3 The use of non-traditional

marks in the market place is a new development and it has transformed the



            

applications for the registration of non-t raditional marks, since t he current

registration system of tr ade marks was generally desig ned for traditional marks

consisting of, for example, words, devices or a combination of the t wo.4 Non-

traditional ma rks are, however, different, as they can be visible or non-visible.

Colours, containers for goods a nd shapes are common non-tr aditional marks

that are visible. Scent, taste a nd sound marks are not visua lly perceptible.

  

5

With the introduction of new tech nologies, business people are increasingly

using these non-tra ditional marks to disti nguish their goods or ser vices from

  

1 T Kongolo African contributions in shaping the worldwide intellectual property system (2 013) 45.

            Jou rnal of Intellectu al Property

Rights 43; R J C Troussel and S Meuwiss en ‘Because consume rs do actually ea t trade marks: An

  

ERA For um 423–4; G Trillet ‘Regi strability of smells, c olous and sounds: How to overcome t he

challenges dr essed by the requi rements of graphical repres entation and dist inctiveness within

 ECTA Annual Conference 1.

                   W IPO

Magazine    Journal

of Intellectual P roperty Rights 129 131.

             Nation al Law School of India

Review 67. See also S Hobson-Jon es and S Karjiker ‘Is S outh African t rademark law out of

shape? A comparat ive analysis of shape mar ks, in light of the rece nt SCA and CJEU Kit K at

Stellenbosch Law Review 597; Kumar (n3) 131.

   

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(2017) IPLJ 16

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those of other enterpr ises.6 It seems the sphere of trade mark protection is now

only limited by human i magination, as producers and ser vice providers strive

to remain competitive by developing other form s of trade marks.7

This art icle seeks to examine the position in South Af rica of the marks

that are not visually pe rceptible, paying particula r attention to the thre ats

and possibilities of registeri ng such marks. The ar ticle does not deal with the

wider category of non-trad itional marks, but rather limits the ambit and s cope

of the discussion to scent, tast e and sound marks. Reference is sometimes

made to visible non-tradit ional marks and foreign case law in an at tempt to

clarify some aspec ts.8

             

marks in the Europ ean Union (EU). The developments in the EU and

its experiences in relation to t he protection of non-traditional ma rks are

            

deals with the requi rements for registration of trade ma rks set out in the

Companies and Intellect ual Propert y Commission (CIPC) guidelines9 as

well as in the Trade Marks Act 194 of 1993 (the Trade Marks Act) and the

Regulations under the Trade Ma rks Act (the Trade Marks Regulations). The

possible challenges experienced in t rying to registe r non-traditional marks

and in proving the inf ringement of such marks are a nalysed in Part four,

followed by a conclusion. There is a brief discussion on infr ingement of trade

marks under South Af rican law, as this is a subject for another article.

   

2.1 Graphic representation in the pre-Sieckmann and the post-

Sieckmann periods

The developments in the EU regardi ng non-traditional marks ca n be divided

into two periods, na mely, the pre-Sieckman n and the post-Sieckmann period s.

During the pre -Sieckmann era, t he registration of non-tradit ional marks saw

       

the Internal Ma rket (OHIM),10 which included the written descr iption of ‘the

     11 The smell of cut grass, however,

expired in 2006 and was never re newed. In the United Kingdom, scents s uch

  12 and

      SA Attorney s’ Journal 19;

Kongolo (n1) 45; Hobson-Jones and Karjiker (n4) 575.

7 Kongolo (n1) 45.

8 Section 39(1)(c) of the Constitution of t he Republic of South Africa 1996; B Mar tin ‘The situs

of the registere d trade mark r ight in South Afr ican law considered i n the light of parallel

   

9 See CI PRO Office (now CIPC) ‘Guidel ines with regard t o the lodging of non-t raditional

 Patent Journal 460.

10 It is now known as the Eur opean Union Intellec tual Propert y Office (EUIP O).

11 Vennootschap onder Firma Senta Aromatic Marketing CTM Application No 428870, filed

11 December 1996, registe red 11 October 2000.

12 Registration No 2001416 filed 31 October 1994.

THE PROTECTION OF SCENT, TASTE AND SOUND MARKS IN SOUTH AFRICA 17

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