Convicted murderer Oscar Pistorius registered his world-famous name as a trademark. The South African Paralympic star who shot and killed his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp‚ claiming that he mistook her for an intruder on Valentine’s Day in 2013 and is currently serving a six-year sentence for murder‚ has protected his name from being exploited.
TMG Digital has seen the document that shows Pistorius applied for his name to be trademarked in February 2015. His application was accepted in June 2016.
As the world commemorated World Intellectual Property Day on Wednesday, legal experts were encouraging South Africans to safeguard their creations‚ much like Pistorius. The day highlights the role intellectual property (IP) rights, including patents‚ trademarks and copyright‚ play in encouraging innovation.
"Prior to Steenkamp’s death‚ the name and image of Oscar Pistorius was a brand worth millions. He represented a number of high-value brands and exclusive products‚ from Nike to Thierry Muglier‚" said IP law expert Elaine Bergenthuin.
"Interestingly‚ following Pistorius’s initial conviction on the lesser charge of culpable homicide in September 2014‚ Pistorius himself applied for a number of trademark applications to be filed in February 2015 in respect of his name," she said. "Pistorius’s trademark specifically covers ‘surgical‚ medical apparatus and instruments‚ orthopedic articles‚ orthopedic footwear‚ prosthetic and artificial limbs’."
The trademark could apply more broadly because of the class under which it is filed.
"In SA‚ the classes of goods or services in relation to which the trademark applications were filed include aspects such as prosthetics‚ medical devices‚ teaching materials‚ psychological counselling and assessments‚ clothing and footwear‚ motivational speaking‚ physical rehabilitation services, and the like‚" Bergenthuin said.
"It will last 10 years. Effectively it means that, for example, nobody can have a training facility called the Oscar Pistorius training facility‚ clothing that has the brand name Oscar Pistorius, or any sporting goods [so named]."
Bergenthuin said that despite the need for local innovators to protect their inventions‚ the Department of Trade and Industry’s checks and balances are often insufficient when it comes to registering patent ideas and innovations.
"Our system, when it comes to registering patent rights‚ new inventions and technologies‚ is lacking. We don’t actually examine the patents properly to see whether they actually meet the requirements of novelty and are ground-breaking. Our patent rights are granted for anything; 20 other people could have the same patent — it’s granted willy-nilly."
TMG Digital
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