Patrice Motsepe's ARM hauls Durban-based African Rainbow Star before tribunal over trademark infringement

African Rainbow Minerals, the South African mining group Motsepe founded in 1997, has taken legal action against a Durban-based company it says is using a name confusingly similar to its own.

The target of the action is African Rainbow Star, a company registered in Congella, Durban. ARM hauled it before the Companies Tribunal, alleging infringement of several trademarks that were registered between 2005 and 2017.

ARM is not asking for damages. It wants the Durban firm to change its name.

The complaint centers on the "African Rainbow" element. ARM argues that African Rainbow Star's name does not comply with the Companies Act and is asking the tribunal to order the firm to choose a name that does not consist of, incorporate or closely resemble the ARM trademark or any mark confusingly or deceptively similar to it.

The tribunal heard that ARM had made multiple attempts to serve its application on African Rainbow Star before escalating the matter. There were no other reasonable means available to reach the company.

It is a different kind of legal fight from the high-profile cross-border disputes that have dominated Motsepe's docket in recent months. His investment firm African Rainbow Capital was cleared by the Gauteng High Court on April 15 in a $195 million damages claim brought by US-based Pula Group over a Tanzanian graphite project. Five days later, the Glencore-ARM Goedgevonden coal joint venture won a Supreme Court of Appeal ruling reversing a South African Revenue Service diesel refund decision, a judgment with wide implications for BEE-compliant mining joint ventures.

The trademark action against African Rainbow Star is smaller in financial scale but strategically important. ARM's brand equity sits at the center of a corporate empire that now spans mining, financial services through ARC and private equity through ARCH Sustainable Resources. Protecting the "African Rainbow" identity from dilution by unrelated firms is a standard but necessary corporate defense.

Motsepe stepped down as executive chairman of ARM in February 2026 and transitioned to non-executive chairman. He still owns approximately 45% of the company, and Forbes valued his fortune at $4.3 billion in its 2026 Black Billionaires ranking. The trademark push sends a clear signal that the Motsepe brand, however well established, will not be treated as public property by opportunistic registrants.