Using the wild to advertise
SANDTON – Attorney Tyrone Walker explains the legal rules and regulations of branding.
When you think of a zebra and a bank what do you think of?
Some will envisage banking group Investec and the use of a zebra as its marketing logo. Attorney Tyrone Walker explained the significance of using the law to protect your brand.
“Many companies utilise animals as part of their corporate identity,” Walker said. “Investec has adopted the zebra and has registered many trademarks to protect the zebra device. Investec, in most circumstances, will be able to stop any financial related institution or company from utilising a zebra.”
He said the zebra logo is well-known and had built up a reputation with Investec over the years. “Should a member of the public identify a zebra picture in a financial newspaper or magazine, they would automatically believe that it is an Investec article or advert.”
But what happens when another company utilises the same animal for a different product or service offering?
Walker explained, “A good example is the lion. A male lion has been utilised by a number of companies for different product offerings including Lion Matches, Simba chips and Lion lager. These companies are able to utilise different versions of the lion figure as they are operating in different product areas.”
The lion on a packet of Simba chips is very different to the lion on Lion Matches. He said that the lion on the chip packet looks like a colourful cartoon character whereas the lion on the matches looks more realistic. “In addition, the lion figures are portrayed differently and are not identical to each other,” said Walker.
“Our trademark law allows the use of the same brand name or animal figure as long as it doesn’t lead to confusion in the marketplace.”
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