Abstract
The field of Geographical Indicators (GI) is rapidly adjusting to a method of global recognition. The extensive changes to the South African scheme of GIs warrant a modern assessment into whether the current system aptly protects these terms, or not. To determine the efficiency of the South African approach, a comparative study of the European Union (EU) and the United States of America (USA) is necessary. It is apparent that South Africa bears numerous similarities to the American system of GI protection under trade mark legislation. This is not to say that the trade mark system is the only one serving to protect South Africa’s GIs. The various avenues of domestic protection require re-examination in order to determine whether the trade mark scheme is still the most effective method of GI protection in South Africa. An analysis of South African case studies involving Rooibos, Honeybush and Karoo lamb, sheds light on the overlapping methods of GI preservation. GIs should validly be regarded as an intellectual property (IP) right given their ability to increase the commercial value of a proprietor’s products by attaching a repute of quality to a geographical name. Currently, the trade mark system is frustratingly onerous for potential GI holders. The new GI Register offering a sui generis GI protection may be the contemporary answer that South African producers are seeking...
LL.M. (Intellectual Property Law)