SANi trademark

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The most effective way to secure trademark coverage in Africa is through a SANi trademark.

A SANi trademark secures trademark protection in South Africa and Nigeria, covering:

Africa map

SANi:

Countries South Africa and Nigeria
Multi-class No
Classification 12th Edition (12-2023), of the Nice Classification of Goods and Services
Examination Both formal and substantive examination.
South Africa: the trademark is open to opposition for 3 months after publication
Nigeria: the trademark is open to opposition for 2 months after publication
Time to grant About 2 years
Certificate format South Africa: electronic
Nigeria: paper
GDP $861 billion
Population 265 million

Pricing:

Cost (per trademark / class)
SANi $339

Includes: filing, acceptance, official fees and grant

Excludes: Responses to office actions and rejections, opposition, courier of Nigerian trademark certificate

Requirements:

South Africa
Details required for filing
  • Applicants name and address
  • Trademark - if it is a logo mark, a clear .jpeg is required
  • Class/es and specification/s
Documents required for filing Simply signed power of attorney. No original required.
Nigeria
Details required for filing
  • Applicants name and address
  • Trademark - if it is a logo mark, a clear .jpeg is required
  • Class/es and specification/s
Documents required for filing Simply signed power of attorney. No original required.

Filing agents:

South Africa: Sibanda & Zantwijk Patent Attorneys

Nigeria: Crown & Shields

Alternative options:

ARIPO:

Countries Select one or more of 13 member States: Botswana, Cape Verde, Kingdom of Eswatini, The Gambia, Kingdom of Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Sao Tome and Principe, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe
Examination ARIPO performs formal examination, whereafter each selected State conducts its own substantive examination. If a selected State raises an office action, the applicant will need to engage an attorney in the selected State directly and respond thereto
Multi-class Yes
Classification 12th Edition (12-2023), of the Nice Classification of Goods and Services. However, member States may apply earlier editions of the Nice classification. For example, Zimbabwe (which applied the 8th edition) requires "cereals" in class 30 to be qualified as "cereals (for human consumption)" to separate it from "cereals (for animal consumption)", which falls in class 31.

Limit specification of goods / services to 50 words, else surcharge of $5 per word applies
Time to grant About 14 months, whereafter selected States conduct substantive examination
Certificate format Both paper and electronic certificates
GDP $210 billion (if all 13 States are selected)
Population 192 million (if all 13 States are selected)

OAPI:

Countries Automatically includes all 17 member States: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Comoros, the Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, the Niger, Senegal and Togo
Examination Only formal examination. No substantive examination. The trademark is open to opposition for 3 months after publication
Multi-class Yes
Classification 12th Edition (12-2023), of the Nice Classification of Goods and Services
Time to grant 6-12 months
Certificate format Electronic certificate, followed by a paper certificate
GDP $307 billion
Population 212 million

[The SANi trademark is not created by Treaty]