Region: South Africa

In a landmark ruling, the High Court has held that the defendant Laugh it off's sale of T-shirts printed with the phrase 'Black Labour - White Guilt' in lettering that matched the plaintiff South African Breweries' BLACK LABEL mark violated the company's trademark rights. The decision has been seen as a serious blow to freedom of expression in South Africa.

28 May 2003

The Supreme Court has dismissed First National Bank of Southern Africa's application to register the words 'premier' and 'premier package' for banking and financial services. The court held that although it is possible for these words to acquire distinctiveness through use, they cannot be registered because they are reasonably required for use in the trade.

01 May 2003

In <i>South African Football Association v Stanton Woodrush (Pty) Ltd</i>, the South African Supreme Court of Appeal has dismissed the plaintiff's claim that it owns the BAFANA BAFANA trademark in relation to all goods, including clothing. The term '<i>bafana bafana</i>' means 'the boys, the boys' and has been the nickname of the national football team since 1992.

04 March 2003

A WIPO committee investigating the use of geographical names as domain names has concluded that most governments believe that country names deserve protection against registration or use by persons unconnected with the country in question. This supports South Africa's claim that geographical names are part of a country's sovereignty and has significant bearing on its fight for 'southafrica.com'.

10 September 2002

South Africa's Parliament has approved a law designed to expand access to the Internet, but critics say it could force the network to shut down in the country. The new Electronic Communications and Transactions Act regulates all electronic transactions and communications, and provides for the administration of the '.za' domain to be taken over by a government body without seeking the approval of ICANN.

08 July 2002

The South African government has won the right to register 'southafrica.info' after taking advantage of ICANN's decision last month to make '.info' country names available to the relevant country's government and public authorities.

03 May 2002

A bill is before Parliament that, if enacted, will make the government responsible for administering the '.za' domain. Critics fear that government employees with insufficient technical expertise will be given too much authority, and not enough resources will be allocated to the development of the namespace.

19 March 2002

South African Airways has threatened to take a disgruntled passenger to court after he built a website called 'NeverflySAA.com' to vent his anger about the airline's allegedly poor service. The South African courts have yet to address the issue of protest sites. Perhaps the airline would be better off having the dispute settled under ICANN's UDRP.

06 March 2002

Leading local internet players have formed a new company - NameSpace - to oversee the allocation and administration of domain names in South Africa. The firm beat plans by the Communications Department, which is now drafting a bill that would transfer administration to a public-private partnership.

24 October 2001