FIFA World Cup 2010 : An Analytical Study of the Effectiveness of South African Intellectual Property Regime to Combat Ambush Marketing and Counterfeiting

This paper analyzes the extent to which FIFA's trademarks can be protected under the South African Intellectual Property regime. It discusses the import that such protection carries for FIFA and how aggressively FIFA protects its IP. It concludes that the trademark protection in South Africa, specifically extended to FIFA 2010, is strong and would be effective in enjoining parties from infringing FIFA's trade marks. Nonetheless, ingenious ambush marketing will slip through. It is still a work in progress and the author intends to discuss the free speech issues that arise when organizations, like FIFA, relentlessly pursue their IP