Despite a recent decision of the Supreme Court of Appeal,
exchange control approval will still be required in respect of the
assignment of intellectual property to a non-resident.
The Supreme Court of Appeal was recently called upon to, in
essence, rectify a trade mark register to reflect Oilwell (Pty) Ltd
("Oilwell") as proprietor of the trademark
'Protec' instead of Protec Auto Care Ltd ("Auto
Care"), a company incorporated in the United Kingdom.
In 1998 Oilwell and various other parties concluded an
assignment agreement in terms of which, inter alia, Oilwell
assigned the trade mark 'Protec', to Protec International
Ltd ("International") a company incorporated in
Guernsey.
As a consequence of relations between the parties to the
assignment deteriorating and International running into financial
trouble, the trade mark was assigned for a second time to Auto Care
by International.
