Cell C trademark provisionally refused

20 Aug 2010

Mobile operator Cell C, has responded to reports that its new logo had been rejected by the Registrar of Trademarks, saying "This is not the case. Its application to register its logo as a trademark has been provisionally refused".

Cell C responds to reports

"There has been a lot of debate about Cell C's new logo, which we welcome. However, it has been incorrectly reported that company's 'logo has been rejected'. This is not the case. Its application to register its logo as a trademark has been provisionally refused. The provisional refusal of trademark applications is not uncommon. As part of the trademark registration process, companies can make representations to the Registrar in response to the reasons for the provisional refusal.

Prior to revealing the new logo, the company took legal advice from experts in the trademark field and followed all the relevant procedures in order to apply for the registration of the trademark. It must be noted that due to an administrative error by the Registrar, the company only received the official notification of provisional refusal and the reasons from the Registrar yesterday afternoon.

There are numerous well-known brands and logos, which are in daily use in South Africa, which have not yet achieved final trademark registration status. In addition, even if an applicant does not ultimately succeed in registering a mark or logo as a trademark this does not stop the applicant from continuing to use the mark or logo."

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