| (a) | The Minister may, after investigation and proper consultation and subject to such conditions as may be appropriate in the circumstances, by notice in the Gazette designate an event as a protected event and in that notice stipulate the date- |
| (i) | with effect from which the protection commences; and |
| (ii) | on which the protection ends, which date may not be later than one month after the completion or termination of the event. |
| (b) | The Minister may not designate an event as a protected event unless the staging of the event is in the public interest and the Minister is satisfied that the organisers have created sufficient opportunities for small businesses and in particular those of the previously disadvantaged communities. |
| (2) | For the period during which an event is protected, no person may use a trade mark in relation to such event in a manner which is calculated to achieve publicity for that trade mark and thereby to derive special promotional benefit from the event, without the prior authority of the organiser of such event. |
| (3) | For the purposes of subsection (2), the use of a trade mark includes |
| (a) | any visual representation of the trade mark upon or in relation to goods or in relation to the rendering of services; |
| (b) | any audible reproduction of the trade mark in relation to goods or the rendering of services; or |
| (c) | the use of the trade mark in promotional activities, |
which in any way, directly or indirectly, is intended to be brought into association with or to allude to an event.
| (4) | Any person who contravenes subsection (2) shall be guilty of an offence. |
| (5) | For the purposes of this section 'trade mark' includes a mark. |
[Section 15A inserted by section 2 of Act 61 of 2002.]
