SimTM South African trademark monitoring service

About SimTM trademark monitoring technology SimTM powers the GlobalIPCo South African trademark monitoring service. SimTM Technology alerts owners of registered South African trademarks that a phonetically similar South African trademark has been published (and is open to opposition for the next 3 months). South African trademark monitoring emails To receive monthly trademark monitoring alerts by … Read more

May 10th, 2026

South Africa’s largest trademark watch service

The GlobalIPCo South African trademark watch service generates +60,000 watching search reports each month. Options: GlobalIPCo trademark watch email alertsGlobalIPCo trademark watch report webpageGlobalIPCo trademark watch search facility Technology: SimTM technology, which identifies phonetically similar trademarks Cost: Free How to activate: Add trademarks to the PayAnnuity trademark renewal system and ask GlobalIPCo to activate watch … Read more

May 4th, 2026

SimTM becomes the most widely used trademark watch service for African trademarks

Despite only launching in 2026, SimTM‘s trademark watch service technology has been adopted widely by African trademark service providers. The following IP services providers now rely on SimTM technology to enable their clients timeously to oppose registration of confusingly similar trademark within South Africa, Nigeria and OAPI: GlobalIPCo – the largest online filer of African … Read more

Apr 30th, 2026

GlobalIPCo creates +60,000 South African trademark monitoring reports monthly

GlobalIPCo is the largest generator of South African trademark monitoring reports, creating +60,000 monitoring reports monthly. These reports are automatically generated within a day of publication of the South African trademark journal using SimTM Technology, and made available without charge. Each report includes details of phonetically similar marks, grouped into four categories – “Most relevant”, … Read more

Apr 26th, 2026

IP firms move from billing hours to building products

A year ago, I was afraid of private equity-backed IP software companies – they were going to eat me alive. Then, they all got eaten by AI. Now, everyone is using AI to run away from AI. Before 2025, “normal” IP firms lived a precarious life. They had to make profit to survive and keep … Read more

Apr 23rd, 2026

Free South African trademark watch service

GlobalIPCo (powered by SimTM technology) offers a free South African trademark watch service, alerting trademark owners to similar recently published trademarks they may with to oppose. As at 2026, GlobalIPCo monitors +60,000 South African trademarks. Historical trademark watch service results are available for all marks – search for “mark” and “class”. However, you will need … Read more

Apr 22nd, 2026

S&Z taps SimTM to provide trademark monitoring services for its renewal system

S&Z, which manages renewal of +13,000 intellectual property records, has selected SimTM to generate monitoring reports for trademarks on S&Z’s trademark renewal system. Why SimTM? SimTM automatically obtains published trademark data within a day of publication in a trademark journal. SimTM also provides an extensive technology package that “plugs into” existing renewal systems. SimTM’s product … Read more

Apr 19th, 2026

SimTM African trademark monitoring technology

Countries covered by SimTM SimTM covers: South African trademarks Nigerian trademarks OAPI trademarks (17 States) Alerting owners of registered trademarks in South Africa, Nigeria and OAPI of phonetically similar trademarks that have recently been published. Enabling them to institute opposition proceedings timeously. Opposition periods: South Africa: 3 months from publication Nigeria: 2 months from publication … Read more

Apr 17th, 2026

About SimTM Tech for trademarks

SimTM is trademark monitoring technology for African trademarks. It specialises in conducting trademark watching searches to identify newly published African trademarks that are phonetically similar to registered African trademarks. African countries covered SimTM monitors newly published: South African trademarks; Nigerian trademarks; and OAPI trademarks, Result categories SimTM categorises results as: most relevant; relevant; of interest; … Read more

Apr 16th, 2026

GlobalIPCo adopts SimTM Technology for South African trademark watching searches

About SimTM Technology SimTM technology is a trademark watching search technology that identifies recently published South African trademarks that are phonetically similar to registered South African trademarks. SimTM is specifically designed to enable websites to create watching search reports in real-time. It also enables users to: create a dynamic webpage for each trademark providing real-time … Read more

Apr 11th, 2026

Nano Banana gets even better at creating AI-generated patent drawings

Over the past week, Nano Banana has improved its ability to create patent drawings. You can now simply ask “Get patent drawings for the GlobalIPCo system”. As some background: GlobalIPCo is the top online system for African patents, integrating as much as possible with the IP office in which it files. Nano Banana goes off, … Read more

Apr 4th, 2026

How to create patent drawings using AI

GlobalIPCo tested various AI options to create patent drawings, in particular South African provisional patent drawings. Many of the AI options, such as ChatGPT, were disappointing, Whereas, ChatGPT is brilliant for drafting very good patent specifications, it is terrible at creating patent drawings. To create really good patent drawings using AI, try Nano Banana. To … Read more

Apr 3rd, 2026

By assisting inventors to use AI to draft patents, GlobalIPCo becomes the largest filer of South African provisional patents

In 2026, GlobalIPCo began assisting inventors to use AI to draft and file South African provisional patents. The result: comparing Q1 2025 with Q1 2026, GlobalIPCo increased its South African provisional patent filings by nearly 300% – making GlobalIPCo the top filer of South African provisional patents for Q1 2026. How GlobalIPCo assists inventors to … Read more

Mar 28th, 2026

SANi Patents are driving significant growth in African patent filings

During the first quarter of 2026, SANi combination patents drove more than 100 Nigerian patents per month. The SANi combination patent is the best patent option for Africa. Let’s compare it to ARIPO and OAPI patents: African GDP covered by a SANi patent The SANi combination patent covers 44% of sub-Sahara African GDP – greater … Read more

Mar 23rd, 2026

Quick patent

Need a patent quickly? A patent you can file within an hour or two? Want a patent number within one business day? Your best option is a Provisional Patent. Why file a provisional patent? A provisional patent is easy, quick and cheap to file. You don’t need a patent attorney to draft the patent. You … Read more

Mar 15th, 2026

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Sibanda & Zantwijk Attorneys
9 Kruger St
Oaklands
Johannesburg
South Africa

T +27 (0)83 627 1406 (trademarks)
T +27 (0)83 233 4582 (patents)
info@ideanav.co.za