The question of who actually owns a trade mark in an important
one in South African law. That's because the Trade Marks Act
provides that a trade mark cannot be registered by a party who
doesn't have a bona fide (good faith) claim
to ownership of that trade mark. It goes on to say that a
trade mark cannot be registered if the application is
made mala fide (in bad faith). An application
for registration of a trade mark can be opposed on the basis of a
lack of good faith, and a trade mark registration can be cancelled
on this basis.
In SA, trade mark ownership became something of an issue during
the apartheid years. The reason: a large number of international
companies decided not to do business in the country, and certain
local companies used the opportunity to adopt the trade marks of
international companies. The thinking presumably was that
this would give them an advantage, because these trade marks would
be known by many local consumers, especially those who
