Sports Minister Makhenkesi Stofile's latest claim that the government owns the Springbok emblem has no grounds, says the intellectual property law firm Spoor & Fisher.

"The status quo remains," partner at the firm Owen Dean said on Wednesday,

"On all available information, the SA Rugby Union (Saru) owns the Springbok emblem."

Stofile was earlier in the day quoted as saying: "The (sports) department had taken its own legal advice on the Bok symbol and had been told they own it."

Dean said Saru registered the trademark in 1996, under the Heraldry Act going back more than 40 years.

"A registration under the Heraldry Act applies in perpetuity. There is no other statute of which I am aware under which ownership of the Springbok emblem has been conferred."

Dean said he had consulted at least two authorities who also arrived at the conclusion that Saru — not the government — owned the Springbok emblem.

He added: "Government has so far given no justification or produced any substantiation for its claims. We need to see under which authority government is claiming ownership."

Sapa

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