SA DJ Fistaz Mixwell Shares Why His Restaurant Name Is Not A Copyright Infringement
SA DJ Fistaz Mixwell Shares Why His Restaurant Name Is Not A Copyright Infringement. South African DJ and entrepreneur Fistaz Mixwell took to Twitter to share why his restaurant name is not a copyright infringement. The DJ said that a marketing agency called ‘Matte Blk Africa’ is saying he can not use the name ‘Matte Black’ as it has already trademarked it.
The post read, “Crazy that @matteblkafrica, a marketing agency thinks that they have sole rights to use the naming MATTE BLACK as if they invented it. You are not Coca Cola. A common description of a colour used globally? My restaurant is not a marketing agency. You will not win in court!”
Copyright Infringement is something that a lot of businesses seek to protect themselves against, this is because when intellectual property is trademarked it provides the protection and security that no one else can use the intellectual property or anything that is similar to it. This is done to stop people from stealing other people’s ideas and presenting them as their own, this way entrepreneurs can rest assured that the brand they built or are building won’t be taken away or used without their permission.
Mixwell continue to say, “This is not my logo! Any computer will give you this same result. This is a common font. You conveniently chose to remove the stylised font on top of these letters. A short trademark lesson @matteblkafrica – The trademark u applied for, only late last year btw (after I opened) is for only class 35 which covers marketing and related services. And not class 43 which covers food and drinks as prescribed by the CIPC.”
Entrepreneurs should do thorough research before committing to anything about trademarking a brand. When proper research is done situations such as this can be avoided as people would understand what constitutes copyright infringement and what does not.
