{"id":56496,"date":"2026-05-21T11:04:43","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T11:04:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/my.legal500.com\/developments\/?post_type=legal_developments&p=56496"},"modified":"2026-05-21T11:05:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T11:05:17","slug":"kyk-gou-wat-doen-n-blazer-from-tiktok-to-trademarks-can-a-viral-trend-give-you-trade-mark-rights-overnight","status":"publish","type":"legal_developments","link":"https:\/\/my.legal500.com\/developments\/thought-leadership\/kyk-gou-wat-doen-n-blazer-from-tiktok-to-trademarks-can-a-viral-trend-give-you-trade-mark-rights-overnight\/","title":{"rendered":"Kyk gou wat doen ‘n blazer! From TikTok to Trademarks: Can a viral trend give you trade mark rights overnight?"},"content":{"rendered":"

15 May 2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

South Africans can\u2019t stop saying it: \u201ckyk wat doen \u2019n blazer\u201d<\/em>!<\/strong><\/p>\n

What started as a single video has turned into a nationwide trend \u2014 and potentially something far more valuable: a commercial asset.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Goodwill and reputation are invaluable assets in a business.\u00a0 They are known as the forces that attract custom, the things that make customers choose you over everyone else.\u00a0 Traditionally, brands earned that recognition through years of advertising, consistent use and significant commercial investment. Reputation was something built slowly – campaign by campaign, sale by sale.<\/p>\n

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Enter the blazer.\u00a0 And a goue tekkie<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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In today\u2019s digital economy, a single viral moment can create more public recognition in 24 hours than traditional advertising campaigns achieve in years. \u00a0A phrase, logo, image, or brand can explode across TikTok, X, Instagram, or YouTube overnight, instantly embedding itself in public consciousness and potentially generating enormous commercial value.<\/p>\n

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The viral storm around \u201cKyk wat doen \u2019n blazer<\/em>\u201d is the perfect example of this shift. What began as a video posted by social media influencer Farming Blonde in March 2026 to promote the launch of her local clothing line has, within days, swept across South Africa, generating instant virality, with many brands joining the conversation.<\/p>\n

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The entire country is now \u201ckyking wat doen \u2019n blazer<\/em>\u201d, and in the process the brand has gained immediate traction and widespread recognition.<\/p>\n

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This raises an important trade mark question: can a brand acquire protectable goodwill overnight?<\/p>\n

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Traditionally, building that protectable consumer recognition meant incurring extensive use and advertising spend.\u00a0 It was considered as needing long-standing market presence and significant sales figures.\u00a0 But virality disrupts the traditional formula. A business no longer necessarily needs years of investment to achieve widespread consumer recognition and the goodwill that goes hand in hand with that. \u00a0It may well be the case that one viral clip, celebrity moment, meme, or trending hashtag could be enough.<\/p>\n

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Whilst virality does not automatically translate into enforceable rights, it does change the speed at which enforceable recognition can arise.<\/p>\n

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Consumers engage with viral content voluntarily, share it rapidly, and emotionally connect with it in ways that paid advertising often struggles to achieve.\u00a0 The power of virality cannot be overstated and IP rights that come into existence as a result, must not be underestimated.<\/p>\n

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The peculiarity of a viral moment is of course that there is no way of knowing the brink of success.\u00a0 Farming Blonde could not have foreseen the substantial impact this one video would have and the value it would add to her business.<\/p>\n

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Today it\u2019s a viral slogan. Tomorrow, it could be a protected brand.<\/p>\n

Kyk nou net wat doen \u2018n blazer!<\/em><\/p>\n

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By Werina Griffiths (Partner) and Nontando Tusi (Senior Associate)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","class_list":["post-56496","legal_developments","type-legal_developments","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.legal500.com\/developments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/legal_developments\/56496","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.legal500.com\/developments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/legal_developments"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.legal500.com\/developments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/legal_developments"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.legal500.com\/developments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56496"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}