CIPC trademark registration: how it works
How registration at CIPC actually works: the R590 DIY route step by step, where applications go wrong, and when the attorney route pays for itself.
CIPC (the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission) hosts South Africa’s trade mark office and you can file there yourself for R590 per class. This page explains the DIY route honestly, step by step – and where it goes wrong, so you can judge whether the attorney route at R2,990 all-in is the better option for your brand.
What CIPC does – and doesn’t do
The Companies and Intellectual Property Commission runs both the company register and the trade marks register. They are different registers with different rights: registering a company name does not give you trade mark rights in its name. Many South African businesses discover this the hard way – a company registration or domain name will not stop a competitor from registering your brand as their trade mark.
CIPC examines applications, publishes accepted marks for opposition and issues certificates. What it does not do: check whether your mark conflicts with existing marks before you pay, choose your class, or word your specification. Those choices – the ones that decide what you actually own – are entirely yours on the DIY route.
Filing yourself at CIPC, step by step
- 1. Register as a CIPC customer. Create an account on CIPC e-services and deposit funds against your customer code filing fees are drawn from this balance. The creation of a customer code usually requires a certified copy of your identity document and a South African Phone number (or enabled roaming) in order to receive the One-Time-Pin (OTP) passport – one of the peculiarities of doing business with local government and banks.
- 2. Search first. Check the register for identical and similar marks before you spend anything. Our free search covers most of the full register (though it does not show all details of the marks – like whether the mark is in a stylised logo form and the exact goods or services covered) and takes seconds.
- 3. Pick your class – one application per class. South Africa uses the 45 international (NICE) classes and each class needs its own application at R590. Your protection covers the goods or services you list, not the whole class.
- 4. Word your specification. Describe your goods or services precisely. Too narrow and you leave gaps; too broad and you may invite objections from third parties or the examiner – often South African examiners accept use the class headings – though broad classes like class 35, covering business and marketing services, may need refinement. This also helps put others on alert about what it is that you do in practice (and discourage any overlap).
- 5. File the application (form TM1) online through CIPC’s IP e-services and pay the R590.
- 6. Wait for examination. The examiner’s report typically arrives in 8-12 months: accepted, accepted with conditions (commonly a disclaimer of a descriptive word – or an association where you file multiple classes), or provisionally refused – which you can respond to and argue.
- 7. Advertisement and registration. Accepted marks are advertised for opposition; if none arrives, the mark registers and the certificate issues – around 24 months in all.
How long each stage takes
The whole process takes around 24 months in a straightforward case – one where nothing goes wrong. Timings vary a great deal with the examiner assigned: some are much faster, some much slower, and objections or extra requirements add time on top.
The office still uses physical files which are often misplaced in offsite storage – whcih can add months – or even years – of delays. While this is can be very annoying or problematic if you need to prove registration and/or take urgent legal action against an infringer, ultimately your protection is backdated to the filing date once registered.
| Step | Estimated timeframe |
|---|---|
| 1. Trade mark filed | Instantaneous |
| 2. Application number received | 1-3 days |
| 3. Examiner’s report (official action) received | 8-12 months |
| 4. Response to the official action | Within 3 months (depending on your instructions) |
| 5. Acceptance of the trade mark | 1-9 months (depending on the examiner) |
| 6. Advertisement in the Patent Journal | 1 month |
| 7. End of the opposition period | 3 months after advertisement |
| 8. Registration certificate issued | 1-9 months (depending on the examiner) |
Your protection runs from the filing date, not the registration date. Once the mark proceeds to registration it is protected from the day you filed, for renewable periods of ten years – so the waiting does not cost you priority.
Where DIY applications go wrong
- The wrong class or a weak specification. The application fee is spent either way – and a badly-scoped registration may protect too little to stop a competitor, or reach so wide that it invites objections.
- No conflict check. Filing against an existing similar mark wastes the fee and can invite a dispute with its owner.
- Examiner conditions handled badly – or not at all. Provisional refusals and conditions can often be dealt with or even overcome with a proper response; unanswered, the application simply lapses.
- Deadlines missed. CIPC correspondence goes to the email address on file, and response windows are fixed at three months. No one chases you – and if you miss the deadline your application is void (unless the Registrar accepts your late excuses).
Most self-filed applications that reach us have already failed – and almost never because the mark itself was unregistrable. In our experience the causes are the same four, in roughly this order:
- A deadline missed. CIPC writes to the address on file and nobody follows up. Response windows are fixed at three months, and once one closes the application is usually void.
- Correspondence left unanswered – the examiner’s letter, or a notice from a third party who has opposed the mark. Silence is treated as abandonment, not as disagreement.
- A mistake in the class or the specification that nobody sees until examination, 8-12 months after the fee was paid.
- The wrong applicant, or the wrong address for service. Only an admitted attorney may file on another person’s behalf, so a self-filed application has to show on its face that it is exactly that – you as the applicant, and you as the address for service. Naming the wrong applicant is not a clerical slip: it decides who owns the right. Filing in your own name when the business should own the mark (or the reverse) is put right later by assignment and recordal, with its own fee, delay and paperwork.
- CIPC’s internal practice. This is the one that cannot be prepared for from the outside. The Act and the Regulations are published – we host both below – but a great deal of how the office actually works appears in neither. It is learned by filing hundreds of applications and dealing with the office week after week.
None of that makes the mark unregistrable. It means the application died of process rather than of merit, and by the time that becomes visible a rebrand is often already under way.
None of this means DIY is wrong – but it works best if you keep an eye on the process, respond to the examiner promptly, are familiar with the trade mark examiner’s guidelines. And you cannot file it and forget it: the mark has to be watched and managed for the next ten years, and beyond that if you renew it. Put plainly, the R590 buys the filing, not the judgment. It also buys you nobody to ask: CIPC processes applications, it does not advise applicants. On our side you have your attorney on speed dial – a quick call or email about a letter you have received, a class you are unsure of, or a competitor who has started using something close, is part of the service, not a billable event. Our R2,990 all-in service adds the judgment: conflict check, class and specification drafted by SAIIPL-certified attorneys, the CIPC fee included, and prosecution tracked to certificate – in many clean single-class cases, R2,990 is the total cost to registration.
Registration is the start, not the finish
A trade mark is a 10-year asset that has to be looked after. Most of what follows is included in the R2,990 for marks we file and manage – you are handing the asset to someone whose job is to watch it.
- See it any time. Your portfolio in one place: status, filing and renewal dates, official documents and correspondence, without having to ask.
- Alerts on conflicting new filings. We watch the register for later applications that clash with your mark – and the opposition window is only three months from advertisement, so knowing early is the whole game. Monitoring is included for marks we manage.
- Add classes as the business grows. New products or services usually mean a new application – protection follows the goods and services you listed, not the company.
- Assign, transfer or license it. Sell the mark, move it between entities, or license it to a franchisee or distributor – each recorded against the register so the chain of title holds.
- Due diligence support. When an investor, buyer or bank asks what you own, the answer is a clean register position and documents to match, not a scramble.
- List it for sale. If a mark stops earning its keep, it can go on the brand marketplace rather than being left to lapse.
- Renewals handled before the deadline, not after it – a lapsed mark needs restoration, which costs more and is not guaranteed.
This matters more than it used to. Intangible assets – brands, intellectual property and goodwill – now account for roughly 92% of the market value of the S&P 500, up from 17% in 1975 (Ocean Tomo Intangible Asset Market Value Study, 2025). Those are large listed companies rather than small businesses, but the direction is the same everywhere: what a business is worth increasingly sits in its brand rather than its premises. A trade mark is the part of that value you can actually own, license and sell.
DIY vs attorney route, side by side
| DIY at CIPC | BrandLaw | |
|---|---|---|
| Government fee | R590 per class | included |
| Total at filing | R590 per class | R2,990 per class, all-in |
| Conflict check before filing | do it yourself | included |
| Class + specification | your call | drafted by attorneys |
| Examiner conditions / provisional refusals | you respond | handled – quoted before any work |
| Deadlines and correspondence | you track | tracked and reported |
| Renewals every 10 years | you diarise | handled before the deadline |
| Watch for conflicting new filings | none | included for marks we manage |
| Assignments, licences, added classes | your own recordals | handled and recorded |
| Someone to ask | none – CIPC cannot advise you | your attorney on speed dial, at no extra charge for a quick question |
Frequently asked questions
How much does CIPC charge to register a trademark?
R590 per class per application – the official government fee. Filing through an attorney adds professional fees; our rate is R2,990 per class with the R590 included. See the full fee breakdown on our cost guide.
Can I register a trade mark through BizPortal?
No – BizPortal handles company registrations and related services. Trade marks are filed through CIPC’s IP e-services (or through an attorney).
Does registering my company name at CIPC protect my brand?
No. A company registration only reserves the corporate name; it creates no trade mark rights. If the brand matters, register it as a trade mark – that is the right that stops competitors from using or registering it.
How long does CIPC take to register a trademark?
The examiner’s report typically arrives 8-12 months after filing, and a smooth application registers in around 24 months. Your rights, once registered, run from your filing date.
Can I file one application covering several classes?
Not in South Africa – each class requires its own application and its own R590 fee. That is why multi-class protection is usually planned with an attorney: classes chosen deliberately cost less than classes guessed.
What happens if the examiner refuses my application?
A provisional refusal is not the end – it is an invitation to respond. Many provisionally refused applications proceed to registration after a proper response. Unanswered, the application lapses and the fee is lost.
Sources
- Trade Marks Act 194 of 1993 (PDF) – the statute
- Trade Mark Regulations (PDF) – forms, fees and time limits
- Guideline on the Examination of Trade Marks, South African Trade Marks Office, Version 3A, August 2019 (PDF) – what examiners actually apply
We host copies of the official texts so they are always reachable. The Act and Regulations are the law itself; the guidelines are how the Registrar’s examiners apply it in practice.
Written and reviewed by
Stephan Viollier – Trade Mark & IP Attorney, SAIIPL-certified, admitted in South Africa and the United States (New York)
This page explains South African trade mark practice in general terms. It is information, not legal advice on your particular mark – for that, talk to us.
Know before you file – free
Search the register and get an instant AI availability report at no cost. File yourself with better information, or let us handle it end to end.
If a term here is unfamiliar, the trade mark glossary defines it in plain English – particularly specification and official action.
