Sport, brands, success and South Africa

Sport, brands, success and South Africa

By Afro Leo   Tuesday, June 17, 2025   No comments:

Fifteen years ago, to the month, South Africa hosted the FIFA World Cup Football tournament which also sparked a great deal of commentary on this blog on a number of intellectual property issues. Branding, sponsorships, counterfeiting, changes to legislation and the "World Cup effect" created by its spotlight on South Africa (and Africa generally) all became talking points, a much-needed boost for our economies and exposure for IP issues. 

Indeed, on a personal level, within hours of this blog post - The [arrest? of the] Beautiful [at the] Game, I became immersed in negotiations between FIFA, Bavaria and the girls who were arrested for alleged ambush marketing. The circumstances of that incident are such that it is still widely noted as a seminal moment not only of that World Cup, where it stole headlines for a week, but also for discussion on what best practice is for ambush marketing concerns, the brilliance of marketers and also how to deal with ambush marketing effectively... or not. For me it meant missing a few games of football but gaining insights unlikely to be repeated in my lifetime.  

Another topic that came to the fore was the use of national flags and state emblems and the legitimacy of it all. This post "Flagitis" became rather popular even though its conclusions were inconclusive and revealed the confusion surrounding permissions for use of national flags for promoting business. Fast forward on that topic and suddenly, in 2025, we have seen a number of notices in the national gazette permitting the use of the flag by a variety of different organisations in South Africa. People have obviously found the Minister to talk to and are bugging him regularly!

The examples are illustrated in the pic and were requested by organisations as diverse as the South African Revenue Service (the tax guys), Big 5 Cookware (as it says on the tin), Olive or Twist (campaign creators) and SA Greetings (gifts and accessories). A typical notice will read: 

National pride was again on display this weekend with South Africa cricketers winning, against most betting odds, the ICC World Test Championship. This is against a backdrop of South Africa becoming Rugby World Cup winners in 2024 in remarkably close and challenging circumstances, and recent global wins for athletics, surfing and UFC. It's no surprise therefore that local marketers wish to latch onto national emblems in the interest of their organisation's success and the South African public obviously oblige. 

It's not all roses (or rather, proteas) though; South Africa football jerseys are the slowest off the shelves based on their lacklustre performances and brand South Africa got somewhat "trumpled" in the White House recently. Tellingly, in RSA's arsenal on that occasion in May was none other than two RSA golfing stars and a 14kg book, not on development economics, but on, you guessed it, South African golf courses. Yes, golf is a possible way to Trump's heart but it's really a reflection of a national brand that is steeped so much in sport. Not just sport mind you, but success in sport. 

Darren Olivier

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Stellenbosch IP Conference: Part 4

Stellenbosch IP Conference: Part 4

By Darren Olivier   Monday, September 19, 2011   No comments:

Part 4: For links to Parts 1, 2 and 3 click here.

Harms started the morning session with a paper entitled “The Ossification of IP Law in South Africa”.

RSA laws are not adapting at the rate appropriate for sustainable development. This is not the first time Harms has said so and Afro Leo was able to scribble down notes of his discontent over “misfiling and lost files”, “delays in processing trade marks at CIPRO”, the “state of our legislation” eg Counterfeit Goods Act conflicts with the Customs Act. Yet we carry on regardless … “on the rims” and his view that the proposed Traditional Knowledge legislation “will kill IP as we know it”.

Harms was critical of the Government’s apathetic attitude toward IP and their perception that it is “for rich countries” citing several examples that illustrate the direct relationship between patent applications and economic growth. He felt that there is only a reaction when “parochial issues hit Government in the eye” eg the latest ant-counterfeiting Government initiative.

He also pointed out that practitioners are failing to create arguable cases on the issues. His talk was peppered with interesting personal anecdotes and examples but was not intended to be “profound”. He concluded that there is a “vital role in revitalising the subject [IP in RSA]”.

Next up was SAIIPL president, Tshepo Shabangu speaking on "Future Challenges [for SAIIPL] for Intellectual Property Law and its Practice in South Africa".

She focused on three key areas; the lack of appropriately skilled IP specialists in the judiciary [and what can be done about it, highlighting an international trend toward specialist courts, and possibilities of lawyers and advocates sitting as adjudicators]; the need for SAIIPL to train and educate [which it does] and its ability to assist draft (or have an impact on) new legislation [blunted by a lack of trust and perception that it serves only its self interest i.e. mainly law firms].

Mr P Siemsen (Danneman Siemsen) shared his thoughts on IP and its relationship with sport as an instrument that could be used for economic growth in developing economies. Essentially, “IP is a very important tool to ensure possibilities that sport can deliver to developing countries”.

The next slot could have sparked debate for a week. Ginsburg, Gielen and Bereskin took us to that feint edge between trade mark rights and freedom of speech using RSA’s famous Laugh it Off case as a main reference. All three speakers were a treat and the presence of Harms (who gave the AD Laugh it Off decision) in the audience caused a natural and at times, humorous, tension. In a few words, dilution is only reserved for a very limited set of circumstances and the panel was, perhaps surprisingly, split as to whether Laugh it Off had been correctly decided by the Constitutional Court.

Congrats to the Chair on their first effort. 

Afro Leo departed with a sense that there is much frustration and dismay at where IP is going in South Africa. In order to influence future changes he feels that those skilled in IP will need to figure out a new way of working with Government, a way that takes IP (and more specifically, the changes required within it) from its esoteric (a word used by a recent past SAIIPL president when describing the profession) and perceived elitist perch to a point where it can be understood by Government (eg measurable job creation), and from a Group that they trust. Government though does not appear to be totally ignorant of what IP and innovation can deliver (as this blog has noted) but needs to trust, engage and implement changes effectively. 

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