South Africa, Oct. 30 -- If the chatbots are customer-facing, particularly where the names are being promoted as identifiable brand assets, then you should consider registering the name as a trade mark. If the chatbots become a prominent feature on your website or app, it is likely that consumers will come to associate the chatbot with your services. The name of the chatbot then serves as a valuable source identifier that needs to be protected.

If the name is not registered, a third party could obtain trade mark registration for the same or a confusingly similar name in relation to your field of interest, potentially creating obstacles to your continued use.

In addition, if you wanted to restrain third party use, you would be forced to ...