How long does it take to register a Trade Mark in South Africa?

Registration of a trade mark in South Africa might take anything from six months to a year, however once the trade mark application has been submitted, you are protected from competition from a third party who might submit the same or similar trade mark as the trade mark office will object to the third party application as your application was filed first, there may be certain exceptions to this if for eg. The third party can prove common law trade mark rights. A trade mark application may take between 18 to 36 months to pass to registration. You will only need to renew your trade mark after 10 years from the day the application was submitted.