TotalEnergies – South African trademarks

Updated 8 November 2026

TotalEnergies is a French energy company. In South Africa it runs a network of service stations and sells fuels, lubricants and gas.

How TotalEnergies has built and protected its brands in South Africa – its trademark portfolio, where it expanded, how quickly its marks are registered, and who it competes with.

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#182largest trademark owner in South Africa (of 121,626)
323trademarks filed
6different logos published since 2020
34of 45 classes used
1947first trademark filed
79filed in the last 10 years

TotalEnergies trademarks in 45 seconds

TotalEnergies trademarks in 45 seconds

Watch the video on its own page, with transcript – https://snz.co.za/trademark-country-selection-direct/totalenergies-south-african-trademarks/overview-video.html

A portfolio built over time

TotalEnergies filed its first South African trademark in 1947 and has filed 323 since; its busiest year was 2021, with 39 new filings. The chart shows its filings per year from 1970.

Trademarks by filing year, up to 2024; applications still pending are not included.

The names behind the portfolio

Over the years the group has filed under several names – earlier company names, holding companies and subsidiaries. We count them together.

NameMarksFiling years
TotalEnergies2111965–2024
Total1241962–2017
Total South Africa721966–2012
Total Marketing Services31947–1989

Where TotalEnergies expanded its business

Trademark classes show what a business sells. TotalEnergies' portfolio is concentrated in oils & fuels (class 4), construction & repair (class 37), chemicals (class 1). Its most recent moves were into legal & security (2021), jewellery & watches (2021), furniture (2019).

TotalEnergies trademarks: expansion into trademark classes, 1970–2024

TotalEnergies trademarks: expansion into trademark classes, 1970–2024

Watch the video on its own page, with transcript – https://snz.co.za/trademark-country-selection-direct/totalenergies-south-african-trademarks/class-expansion-video.html

Each tile is a class; it lights up when the group first files in it and darkens with more filings; the dots show how many of its closest rivals also file in that class. The chart compares the number of classes used with its rivals. The video runs from 1970; classes entered earlier are lit from the start.

ClassMarksShareSince
4 Oils & fuels11134.4%1947
37 Construction & repair247.4%1972
1 Chemicals216.5%1968
35 Advertising & retail195.9%1972
42 Tech & IT services134.0%1989
9 Electronics & software113.4%1992
19 Building materials92.8%1968
3 Cosmetics & cleaning82.5%1968

The brands TotalEnergies protects most

The word marks and logo names TotalEnergies has filed most often – the same brand filed in more classes, in more versions or again over the years.

#BrandTrademarksClassesFiled
1TOTAL44221968–2019
2TE29292021–2021
3PRIMA991992–1992
4SOCCOLOLO991998–1998
5TOTALENERGIES772021–2021
6PETROPORT751990–2012
7TOTALPAC661978–1978
8TOTAL FOOTBALL TOGETHER552017–2017
9BONJOUR532002–2017
10FOOTBALL TOGETHER TOTALENERGIES442022–2022
11AUTO EXPRESS SERVICE432000–2002
12CAFE BONJOUR422009–2017
13BANOLE331994–1994
14OSYRIS331991–1991
15PETROPOLIS331989–1989

Logos filed most often (since 2020)

TotalEnergies trademark logo
29 filings · 29 classes
TotalEnergies trademark logo
27 filings · 15 classes
TotalEnergies trademark logo
2 filings · 2 classes
TotalEnergies trademark logo
2 filings · 2 classes
TotalEnergies trademark logo
1 filing · 1 class
TotalEnergies trademark logo
1 filing · 1 class

TotalEnergies' logos

The 6 different logos TotalEnergies has had published since 2020 – each logo shown once, however many classes or versions it was filed in. Logos protected in more classes come first.

How quickly its trademarks are registered

Over the last five years, TotalEnergies' marks took a median of 3.4 years from filing to registration, slower than the market's 2.7 years. Most of that time is examination: 2.6 years from filing to acceptance (market: 1.9). Registration itself follows about half a year after acceptance.

Median years from filing to registration per registration year, split into examination (filing → acceptance) and acceptance → registration; the dashed line is the market median. A high recent value means older applications came through that year.

Who files the most in TotalEnergies' classes

Ranked by number of trademarks filed in TotalEnergies' main classes – any company that files there, whatever else it does (including retailers' own brands). This shows TotalEnergies' market position, not who is most like it.

In the last five years, TotalEnergies was #14 of 419 filers in class 4 (oils & fuels), with 6 of 714 trademarks; #76 of 1,255 filers in class 37 (construction & repair), with 4 of 2,181 trademarks; #151 of 947 filers in class 1 (chemicals), with 3 of 2,054 trademarks.

TotalEnergies' share of all trademarks filed in each of its main classes, per filing year.

Top trademark filers in class 4 (oils & fuels), South Africa 1975–2024: TotalEnergies

Top trademark filers in class 4 (oils & fuels), South Africa 1975–2024: TotalEnergies

Watch the video on its own page, with transcript – https://snz.co.za/trademark-country-selection-direct/totalenergies-south-african-trademarks/class-4-race-video.html

Main competitors – the companies most like TotalEnergies

Ranked by how similar their whole trademark portfolio is to TotalEnergies' – the same mix of classes and the same words in their marks – not by size. Large filers in its classes that do something different rank lower here.

TotalEnergies' closest competitors in South Africa are Chevron, Shell, ExxonMobil and Engen.

TotalEnergies trademarks vs competitors: filings per year, 2010–2024

TotalEnergies trademarks vs competitors: filings per year, 2010–2024

Watch the video on its own page, with transcript – https://snz.co.za/trademark-country-selection-direct/totalenergies-south-african-trademarks/competitors-video.html

Trademark filings per year: TotalEnergies (orange) and its five closest competitors.

#CompanyRelationshipSimilarity
1ChevronDirect competitor72%
2ShellDirect competitor67%
3ExxonMobilDirect competitor63%
4EngenDirect competitor60%
5EneosDirect competitor53%
6Aisin Seiki Kabushiki Kaisha AlsoRelated field52%
7Suning International ServicesRetailer's own brands52%
8AldiRetailer's own brands52%
9LotteOther field52%
10BP–72%

Similarity of trademark activity since 2015 (classes and words used in marks). Retailers appear where their own brands compete on the shelf.

TotalEnergies – relevant export countries

South Africa exported US$3.9 billion of the goods TotalEnergies' main classes cover in the last year – industrial oils and greases; lubricants; fuels; additives (class 4); chemicals; chemical additives; fluids; lubricants (class 1); software; cases; batteries; apparatus and instruments (class 9); building materials; asphalt; bitumen; pitch (class 19); polishing; cleaning; stain removers; abrasive preparations (class 3). Combining where these goods are exported, imported, growing and made (and copied), and what protection costs, these are the markets where TotalEnergies' trademarks matter most.

Adjust the weightings

These weightings decide how the countries below are ranked. Change any value and the others adjust to keep the total at 100%.

Worldwide

#MarketScoreSA exportsImport growth / yrRouteCost, 5 classes
1European Union72US$246 m-6%NationalUS$2,388
2United Kingdom65US$29 m-4%NationalUS$1,371
3Botswana63US$815 m-17%ARIPOUS$450
4Türkiye62US$13 m+4%NationalUS$1,258
5Zimbabwe60US$305 m+138%ARIPOUS$450
6Canada59US$7.0 m-8%NationalUS$2,192
7Australia59US$26 m-6%NationalUS$2,380
8Nigeria58US$43 m-24%NationalUS$1,015
9Indonesia58US$5.9 m-3%NationalUS$2,630
10Namibia57US$207 m+4%ARIPOUS$450

Africa

#MarketScoreSA exportsImport growth / yrRouteCost, 5 classes
1Botswana63US$815 m-17%ARIPOUS$450 S&Z
2Zimbabwe60US$305 m+138%ARIPOUS$450 S&Z
3Nigeria58US$43 m-24%NationalUS$1,015 S&Z
4Namibia57US$207 m+4%ARIPOUS$450 S&Z
5Lesotho57US$259 m-2%NationalUS$326
6Eswatini57US$279 m-4%NationalUS$446
7Tanzania57US$34 m-4%ARIPOUS$450 S&Z
8Mozambique57US$219 m-15%ARIPOUS$450 S&Z
9OAPI (17 states)56US$44 m-12%NationalUS$1,563 S&Z
10Egypt55US$1.1 m+14%NationalUS$2,278

SA exports = South Africa's exports of these goods to the market in the last year. Ranked with the default weightings. Score 0–100 from South Africa's exports of the goods to the market, net imports, import growth, foreign trademark filings, where the goods are made, market size and the cost of protection. Costs are total fees (official and professional) to file in 5 classes; ARIPO costs are per country, plus US$301 once per ARIPO application; S&Z = S&Z's own all-in price. Goods are taken from the classes and specifications, so the ranking is indicative.

Trade data: CEPII BACI (version 202601, trade flows 2022–2024), Licence Etalab 2.0; aggregated and combined with other data by S&Z.

Protecting its top brands in Nigeria and OAPI with S&Z

BrandClassesNigeriaOAPI (17 states)
TOTAL22US$4,466US$4,703
TE29US$5,887US$5,995
PRIMA9US$1,827US$2,302
SOCCOLOLO9US$1,827US$2,302
TOTALENERGIES7US$1,421US$1,932

S&Z all-in prices per brand in its number of classes, filing to registration.

TM Country Selection  Rank the countries for your own goods and get the quotes.

Word marks you may have considered opposing

For TotalEnergies' five most-filed brands: word marks of other companies (not TotalEnergies' own group) that our similar word mark search, SimTM, found in the brand's own classes, and that we consider confusingly similar – from the earliest match found to today.

Similar to TOTAL (classes 1, 4, 35, 37, 42; searched 2018-03-28 to 2026-11-08)

No confusingly similar marks of other companies found in this period.

Similar to PRIMA (classes 1, 4, 35, 37, 42; searched 2018-04-25 to 2026-11-08)

No confusingly similar marks of other companies found in this period.

Similar to SOCCOLOLO (classes 4, 37, 1, 35, 42; no close matches in the search)

No confusingly similar marks of other companies found.

Similar to TOTALENERGIES (classes 1, 4, 7, 9, 37, 39, 40; no close matches in the search)

No confusingly similar marks of other companies found.

Similar to PETROPORT (classes 4, 35, 37, 42, 43; searched 2019-05-29 to 2026-11-08)

MarkPublishedClassApplicant
PETROPORT2025-09-254TotalEnergies Marketing South Africa (Pty) Ltd
PETROPORT2025-09-2535TotalEnergies Marketing South Africa (Pty) Ltd
PETROPORT2025-09-2537TotalEnergies Marketing South Africa (Pty) Ltd
PETROPORT2025-09-2543TotalEnergies Marketing South Africa (Pty) Ltd

Similarity of the words only. Whether a mark could have been opposed depends on the goods and services, the reputation of the brand and the facts – S&Z can advise. New marks like these are what SimTM watch reports as they are published.

How S&Z can help you

S&Z does not just file trademarks. We are a technology-first firm that manages trademarks – analysing your data, monitoring competitors and making sure your trademark assets remain protected.

We manage your trademarks – not just file them

Analysing your data, monitoring competitors and making sure your trademark assets remain protected:

Renewal managementEvery renewal date in your portfolio tracked and paid online.
Competitor watchGet real-time competitor analysis.
Similar-mark watchNew word marks that come close to yours, found as they are published using SimTM.
Expansion into AfricaLowest-cost trademark expansion into Africa - Nigeria, OAPI.

Filing and renewal at fixed, all-inclusive prices

S&Z prices – South African trademarks

Filing, first class – incl. official fee, examination report, routine office action, acceptance, publication, registration and e-certificateUS$240
Each additional class of the same mark, filed at the same timeUS$225
Renewal online, per class (every 10 years from filing)R1,027
≈ US$62.29

Renewal in rand; US$ at R16.49 per US$.

TotalEnergies' next five years of renewals

99 of TotalEnergies' registered marks reach their ten-year renewal date in 2027–2031. Renewed online with S&Z, that costs about US$6,166 over the five years.

TotalEnergies: frequently asked questions

What should TotalEnergies consider for its trademarks?
  • Where to file next: its goods sell strongly in Botswana, Zimbabwe and Nigeria – markets where South African exports of the same goods are large or growing, and where S&Z files at its own all-in prices (see “TotalEnergies – relevant export countries”).
  • Similar marks: we found 4 word marks of other companies that we consider confusingly similar to its top brands (see “Word marks you may have considered opposing”) – a watch service flags new ones while they can still be opposed.
  • Fewer new brands: new brand names fell from 2.2 to 1.6 a year – worth reviewing whether planned launches are being protected early enough.
  • Renewals and use: keep track of the ten-year renewal dates and of marks that are no longer used – unused marks can be challenged after five years, and some may no longer be worth renewing.
Which of TotalEnergies' brands have been protected the longest?
Several of TotalEnergies' brands have been protected for generations and are still being filed today: TOTAL (first filed 1968, most recently 2019); BONJOUR (first filed 2002, most recently 2017); CAFE BONJOUR (first filed 2009, most recently 2017); TOTAL FOOTBALL TOGETHER (first filed 2017, most recently 2017); TE (first filed 2021, most recently 2021). Brands that are refiled over decades – in new classes, new logos or updated packaging – keep their protection current as the business changes.
How many new brands does TotalEnergies launch each year?
Counting only brand names it had never filed before, TotalEnergies filed about 1.6 new brand names a year over the last five complete years, fewer than the 2.2 a year in the five years before; its busiest year in the last decade was 2015, with 4. Its closest competitors averaged 1.0 new brand names a year over the same period (Chevron 0.2, Shell 1.0, ExxonMobil 1.2, Engen 2.6, Eneos 0.2). New brand names are a good indicator of product launches and innovation.
How broadly does TotalEnergies protect each brand?
TotalEnergies has filed 124 different brand names. 70% of them are protected in a single class, while 8 cover five classes or more – the widest is TE, in 29 classes. A brand used beyond its core product (merchandise, services, related goods) needs protection in each of those classes: in South Africa each class is a separate application.
When in the year does TotalEnergies usually file trademarks?
Over the last ten years, TotalEnergies filed most often in July (36% of its filings), April (16%) and September (16%); the busiest quarter was Q3 (53%). Filing well before a launch matters: rights in South Africa date from the filing date, and examination can take more than a year.
How do retailers' own brands compete with TotalEnergies in trademarks?
Retailers' house brands are a steady presence in TotalEnergies' market. In class 4 (oils & fuels), Suning International Services and Aldi filed 0% of all trademarks in 2020–2024, compared with 0% in 2005–2014. Retailers are often a brand owner's largest customers and, through their own brands, also its competitors.
Why did some of TotalEnergies' trademarks take more than five years to register?
Of TotalEnergies' trademarks registered in the last two years, 58% had waited more than four years since filing. Almost all of that time is examination: the South African registry has been working through a backlog, so many applications filed in 2020–2022 are only now being accepted. Once a mark is accepted, it is advertised and normally registered within about six months. Prompt responses to the registry's examination reports (office actions) avoid adding further delay.
How long do TotalEnergies' South African trademarks last, and when must they be renewed?
A South African trademark registration lasts ten years from the filing date and can be renewed for further ten-year periods indefinitely. Renewal can be paid in the months before the due date, and a six-month grace period applies after it, with a late-payment fee; a mark that is not renewed is removed from the register. A registered mark can also be challenged if it has not been used for five years or more, so use matters as much as renewal.
Do TotalEnergies' South African trademarks protect its brands elsewhere in Africa?
No – trademarks are territorial, and a South African registration covers South Africa only. South Africa is not a member of the Madrid system, so international registration is not available to South African applicants. Protection elsewhere in Africa comes from national filings (for example Nigeria), a single OAPI registration covering 17 West and Central African states, or a regional ARIPO application designating member states such as Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. S&Z files in all of these, including Nigeria together with South Africa (SANi).
What can TotalEnergies do if someone files a mark similar to one of its brands?
When a new application is advertised for opposition, the owner of an earlier, similar mark can oppose it – in South Africa within three months of the advertisement (this period can be extended). After registration, a conflicting mark can still be challenged through rectification of the register, and use of a confusingly similar mark can be stopped through an infringement action. The key is seeing new applications in time, which is what a similar-mark watch does.
What is SimTM?
SimTM is the similar-trademark technology behind GlobalIPCo's South African trademark watching services, which S&Z uses. It identifies newly published trademarks that sound or look similar to a registered mark, at four levels of sensitivity that progressively widen the marks flagged – from the most relevant to marks of more general interest. It is fast enough to check every trademark journal as it is published, so owners can be alerted to similar marks while they can still be opposed within the three-month opposition period. The word marks listed under “Word marks you may have considered opposing” were found with SimTM's two closest levels and then reviewed, so only marks we consider confusingly similar to TotalEnergies' brands are shown.
How accurate is the information on this page?
The figures, charts and videos on this page are based on trademark and trade data obtained by S&Z, and are only as accurate as that data. Records can be incomplete, delayed or contain errors, and linking marks to TotalEnergies and its group companies involves judgement. S&Z therefore does not guarantee that all the information is 100% accurate or complete. It is a general overview, not legal advice: please contact S&Z before relying on it for a filing, renewal, opposition or other decision.