The proprietor
The proprietor is the owner, and, from a trade mark point of view, is the one ultimately responsible for ensuring the quality of the goods or services supplied under the mark. This is why the nomination and identification of the proprietor is important. You should get it right — right from the start.
Trade marks are badges of origin, in the sense that they symbolise a particular, constant, source of manufacture. Most often, the person who claims to be the proprietor (in other words, the person who is entitled to have the trade mark registered in his name) is the person using the brand on his products or in relation to his services. You can be the proprietor even if you intend merely to license someone to use it.
An incorporated company is called a juristic person, to distinguish it from a natural person. For legal purposes, however, provided a company is properly formed and recorded with the Registrar of Companies (another division of CIPC), it is capable of owning property and having the same rights and duties of a natural person, i.e. a human proprietor. Companies operate through their human representatives, such as directors.
The registered trade mark GAP was owned by a South African clothing company, a member of a large group. But when the American company The Gap challenged the registration, the South African company could not show that it actually controlled the use of the mark GAP. In fact, it could not show which of the companies in its group exercised such control. The trade mark registrations were cancelled.
Just like you can give away your property, or sell it to someone else, intellectual property can also change hands from one proprietor to another. This is called ‘assignment’ and we will deal with it later.