Tag: SouthAfricanLaw

Standing out in a competitive market and attracting consumers’ attention is not easy. To achieve this, a product’s overall appearance, known as its “get-up”, should be distinctive. A product’s get-up encompasses far more than its name or logo. It includes colours, packaging, shape, layout, graphics, labels and other distinctive visual features that consumers associate with a specific product.

With the growing use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its integration into corporate systems, a key question arises: can a company be held responsible for misleading statements made by its AI chatbot to a customer? This issue arose in Moffatt vs Air Canada, a case concerning a refund for a bereavement fare. Although a Canadian small-claims tribunal decided the case in 2024, its ruling does not bind South African courts.

As more South Africans choose to live together without getting married, financial experts warn that many couples may unknowingly expose themselves to significant financial and legal risks. Although cohabitation has become increasingly common, many people mistakenly believe that living together for several years automatically grants them the same legal rights as married couples.

When a senior advisor or executive walks out the door, especially to join a competitor, your restraint of trade clause is often the only thing standing between you and serious commercial damage. Here is what recent South African case law tells us about what works, what does not and what you need to do now.

A Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) creates a protected space in which parties can exchange commercially sensitive information. Yet a few apparently innocuous words dealing with information retained in “unaided memory” may materially reduce that protection. In extreme cases, they may undermine the commercial purpose of the NDA itself.

A brand runs an on-pack promotion: buy a product, find the code inside, enter it on an app, and you might win a prize.  The prize could range from a free lunch to an all-expenses-paid trip to Paris. Thousands of people enter, and a winner is drawn. The marketing team would love to announce the winner with a photograph and a celebratory post on social media. However, the winner would rather not.

In a recent Johannesburg High Court judgment, the plaintiff, Karanie, instituted an action against the life insurer, the defendant, in December 2012. The claim sought payment of benefits allegedly due under a life insurance policy. The defendant defended the action and filed a counterclaim to recover payments already made under the policy.

The Plaintiffs operated restaurant businesses and appointed the defendant as their insurance broker. The defendant's mandate required it to procure commercial insurance on the Plaintiffs' behalf. On 4 June 2019, the defendant obtained policies from Renasa Insurance Company Ltd. However, these policies did not include an extended business interruption clause covering losses arising from infectious disease outbreaks.

As gene therapy technologies continue to reshape modern medicine, patent law increasingly faces a difficult task. Courts must distinguish products of nature from genuine biological engineering. They frequently decide whether inventions involving genetic material represent technological innovation or merely identify naturally occurring biological features.

The recent Eastern Cape Division of the High Court judgment in N[...] v Member of the Executive for the Department of Health, Eastern Cape serves as a critical reminder of the intricacies surrounding prescription in medical malpractice claims. This is particularly relevant where the claimant is a layperson with limited medical knowledge.