Registering your brand in South Africa costs $399 per class in professional fees with us, plus the government filing fee charged by Companies and Intellectual Property Commission. We handle the whole filing — clearance, classes, the application itself and any examiner objection — and we confirm the exact government fee in writing before anything is filed.
What it costs to file a trademark in South Africa
Two fees apply, and it matters which is which. Ours is fixed. The government’s is not ours to set and we never mark it up.
- Our professional fee — $399 per class. Flat, quoted upfront, covering clearance, class and goods drafting, filing and prosecution.
- CIPC official fee — about ZAR 590 per class. Paid to the office, passed through at cost.
Official fees are approximate and current as at September 2026; every register reviews them periodically, so we reconfirm the figure at the point of filing rather than asking you to rely on a number published on a web page.
What is different about filing in South Africa
South Africa is not a Madrid Protocol member, so a Madrid designation cannot reach it — you must file nationally at the CIPC, and a great many international portfolios have an unnoticed South African gap for exactly this reason. Official fees are low, but examination has historically been slow.
How the South African filing process runs
- Clearance. We check the South African register for earlier marks that would block or narrow yours, before you spend a filing fee.
- Classes and specification. Goods and services drafted to the Nice classification — too narrow and you leave gaps, too broad and you invite refusal.
- Filing. Filed as a national trademark at CIPC.
- Examination. Absolute and relative grounds — we respond to any objection as part of the fee.
- Opposition. 3 months from advertisement. We monitor the window and advise if anything is filed.
Use requirement at filing: no. You can register in South Africa without having used the mark yet, though long-term non-use will eventually expose the registration to cancellation.
Keeping a South African registration alive
Renewable every 10 years.
Madrid Protocol or a direct South African filing?
South Africa is not a Madrid Protocol member. A Madrid designation cannot reach it and a national filing is the only route in.
Which is cheaper depends entirely on how many countries you need. For one or two territories, direct national filings usually win. Past roughly three, a single Madrid application generally costs less and is far easier to renew, because everything moves on one date instead of several. We cost both routes before you commit.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to register a trademark in South Africa?
Our professional fee is $399 per class. CIPC charges about ZAR 590 per class on top, which we pass through at cost. For a single-class filing that is the whole cost; additional classes are charged per class by both us and the office.
How long does South African trademark registration take?
Absolute and relative grounds, and the opposition period runs for 3 months from advertisement. Where no objection and no opposition arise, registration follows on from there; an examiner objection or an opposition extends the timeline materially. We give you a current estimate at filing rather than a generic one.
Do I need to be based in South Africa to file?
No. Foreign applicants can register in South Africa. What you may need is a local address for service, which we provide as part of the filing, so being outside South Africa is not an obstacle.
Is a clearance search really necessary?
Filing fees are not refundable. A refusal based on an earlier confusingly similar mark costs you the fee and the months spent waiting for it. If you would rather test the ground first, our standalone trademark clearance search starts at $120 and the findings feed straight into the filing.
File your South African trademark — $399 per class, plus the CIPC official fee
The $399 is PerspireIP’s professional fee per class. The CIPC official filing fee is additional, is passed through at cost and is never marked up. Send us the mark and the goods or services it covers using the form below. We reply within one business day with the class recommendation, the exact CIPC fee and the all-in total before anything is filed.