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:
| 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 |
| 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 |
| South Africa | |
| Details required for filing |
|
| Documents required for filing | Simply signed power of attorney. No original required. |
| Nigeria | |
| Details required for filing |
|
| Documents required for filing | Simply signed power of attorney. No original required. |
South Africa: Sibanda & Zantwijk Patent Attorneys
Nigeria: Crown & Shields
Alternative options:
| 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) |
| 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]
Global IP & Consulting FZ LLE (Licensed activities: E-Commerce, Business Consultancy)
