Patent Applications AFRICA

March 1, 2012
Patent News and Interesting Facts

Smit & Van Wyk, Inc. is an intellectual property law firm that specialize in obtaining and protecting your patent and design rights. Our focus is to provide legal services for intellectual property throughout Africa. We assist overseas agents and individual applicants with patent searches, patent filings, patent renewals and prosecution of patent infringement cases. Smit & Van Wyk, Inc. also provide legal advice on commercial rights attached to patents and designs.

Intellectual property is treated as business assets on the balance sheet and has a monetary value associated with it. It is most likely that your business has already generated intellectual property of value through the creativity of the individuals in the business. Once the intellectual property of a business has been identified, it is possible to protect it by means of registered, unregistered, contractual agreements or non-statutory forms of protection.

Smit & Van Wyk, Inc. patent services for inventions from the following fields Biotechnology, Business Methods, Electrical, Electronic, Mechanical, Mining, Nanotechnology and Software.

• Patent applications, filings and registrations
• Patent novelty search
• Patent maintenance and renewals
• Patent licensing

The Smit & Van Wyk, Inc. head office is located in Pretoria, South Africa providing our international and local clients with patent and design services in most countries on the African continent.

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Patent Inventions Categories

October 13, 2011
Patent News and Interesting Facts

Patent Inventions Categories

It is important to register a patent for your invention, but  there are a 3 basic requirements that an invention need to adhere to according to South African law:

All patent applications must be:

1. New
   This “absolute” novelty requirement implies that any disclosure anywhere in the world before the filing date of a patent application in South Africa, will destroy the novelty of your invention, thereby forfeiting your patent rights.
2. Inventive
   There may be similar inventions that have been disclosed to the public in patent specifications or other literature. It needs to be determined whether your invention is considered obvious or not.
3. Useful
   Inventions with no application in trade, industry or agriculture cannot be the subject of a patent in terms of South African patent law.

Here are a few examples of invention categories:

1. Machines
   Machines can be mechanical devices or various devices together with a specific function that will lead to an outcome.
2. Manufactured items
   This include any items not already included under machines, but which are tangible.
3. Components
   The result of a mixture of compounds whether chemical or mechanical.
4. Processes
   Specific steps or treatments which lead to an outcome that can be measured.
5. Improvements
   Alterations to any of the above mentioned products.

Complete the form below to contact the patent attorneys at Smit & Van Wyk, Inc.
This is not an official booking, just a contact request.

Any information or images supplied will be protected under the attorney-client privilege with strict confidentiality, whether you decide to continue with the application or not.

Novelty Search

An optional fixed cost preliminary novelty search can be conducted to find similar or identical patents.

The costs of conducting a fixed cost novelty search in respect of one patent
(inclusive of all fees, official expenses and VAT is limited to approximately R 2500.00)

PLEASE NOTE THAT PRICES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT PRIOR NOTICE. PRICES ARE ONLY AN INDICATION. PLEASE CONTACT OUR OFFICE FOR A FORMAL QUOTATION.

Contact Details for Smit & Van Wyk

Tel:
+27 (0) 12 349 7800

Fax:
+27 (0) 86 619 0493

E-mail:
enquiries@svw.co.za

Physical Address / Courier
Block A Apex Corporate Park
Quintin Brand Street
Persequor Technopark
Meiring Naudé Avenue
Pretoria
0184
South Africa

Additional Articles & Information

How to patent inventions?

Patent protection

Patents in South Africa

Patent Owners

Patent Inventions

Image source: www.freedigitalphotos.net

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How to Patent Inventions

October 6, 2011
Patent News and Interesting Facts

To protect your rights as an inventor you need to file patent applications for your inventions in each country, where protection is sought.

If your inventions are new, inventive and useful, then they might qualify for patent protection.

Patent Application Process

Remember to always keep your inventions and ideas a secret.

Do not market or sell the inventions until the patent application has been filed at the South African Patent Office.

Obtaining a patent is a two-step process spaced 12 months apart.

Step 1
File a provisional patent application in South Africa.
(to obtain the earliest possible date from which to claim rights to your invention)

Once the provisional patent has been submitted, additional steps has to be taken within 12 months to complete the application.

Step 2
File a complete patent application within 12 months of filing the provisional patent application in South Africa, and/or in each country where you wish to obtain patent protection.

Complete the form below to contact the patent attorneys at Smit & Van Wyk, Inc.
This is not an official booking, just a contact request.

Any information or images supplied will be protected under the attorney-client privilege with strict confidentiality, whether you decide to continue with the application or not.

Novelty Search

An optional fixed cost preliminary novelty search can be conducted to find similar or identical patents.

The costs of conducting a fixed cost novelty search in respect of one patent
(inclusive of all fees, official expenses and VAT is limited to approximately R 2500.00)

PLEASE NOTE THAT PRICES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT PRIOR NOTICE. PRICES ARE ONLY AN INDICATION. PLEASE CONTACT OUR OFFICE FOR A FORMAL QUOTATION.

Contact Details for Smit & Van Wyk

Tel:
+27 (0) 12 349 7800

Fax:
+27 (0) 86 619 0493

E-mail:
enquiries@svw.co.za

Physical Address / Courier
Block A Apex Corporate Park
Quintin Brand Street
Persequor Technopark
Meiring Naudé Avenue
Pretoria
0184
South Africa

Additional Articles & Information

How to patent inventions?

Patent protection

Patents in South Africa

Patent Owners

Patent Inventions

Image source: www.freedigitalphotos.net

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Patent Attorney Position

September 30, 2011
Patent News and Interesting Facts

Smit & Van Wyk, Inc. intellectual property law firm is looking to recruit a candidate patent attorney.

If you have the following minimum requirements, please follow this link to submit your CV:

Minimum Requirements

1. Engineering Degree (any field) from any leading University (Qualified)
2. Studying towards a Law Degree from any leading University
   
3. Studying towards a Patent Attorney Qualification from the Patent Examination Board

>> Patent Attorney Job Application <<

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Patent Protection for my Invention

September 29, 2011
Patent News and Interesting Facts

Inventions

To protect your rights as the owner of an invention, you need to file a patent application for the invention in each country, where protection is sought.

If your invention is new, inventive and useful, then it might qualify for patent protection.

Always keep the INVENTION a SECRET.

Do not market or sell the invention until a patent application has been filed at the South African Patent Office.

Obtaining a patent is a two-step process spaced 12 months apart.

Patent Applications

The 1st step is to file a provisional patent application for your invention in South Africa. This is done to obtain the earliest possible date from which to claim rights to your invention.

The 2nd step is to file a complete patent application within 12 months of filing the provisional patent application in South Africa, and/or in each country where you wish to obtain patent protection.

Initial steps to Patent your invention

Step 1
Contact the patent attorneys at Smit & Van Wyk, Inc. regarding your invention at enquiries@svw.co.za, or complete the form below.
This is not an official booking, just a contact request.

Any information or images supplied will be protected under the attorney-client privilege with strict confidentiality, whether you decide to continue with the application or not.

Step 2
We will contact you regarding a consultation. This will be done either at our offices in Pretoria or telephonic. We accommodate national and international clients.

Step 3
An optional fixed cost preliminary novelty search can be conducted to find similar or identical patents.

The costs of conducting a fixed cost novelty search in respect of one patent, inclusive of all fees, official expenses and VAT is limited to approximately R 2500.

Step 4
Once you decide to instruct us to proceed with the patenting process, you pay the requested deposit for the patent attorney to start working on a specification for your patent application.

Step 5
The patent attorney will start writing a patent specification for the invention. This could take 2 to 5 weeks, depending on the complexity of your invention. The attorney will then return the specification to you.

Step 6
Once the approval has been given, the patent attorney will submit your provisional patent application at the South African Patent Office in Pretoria.

Once the provisional patent has been submitted, additional steps has to be taken within 12 months to complete the application.

Feel free to contact us should you have questions or require assistance with any patent related matter.

PLEASE NOTE THAT PRICES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT PRIOR NOTICE. PRICES ARE ONLY AN INDICATION. PLEASE CONTACT OUR OFFICE FOR A FORMAL QUOTATION.

Contact Details for Smit & Van Wyk:

Tel:
+27 (0) 12 349 7800

Fax:
+27 (0) 86 619 0493

E-mail:
enquiries@svw.co.za

Physical Address / Courier
Block A Apex Corporate Park
Quintin Brand Street
Persequor Technopark
Meiring Naudé Avenue
Pretoria
0184
South Africa

Image source: www.freedigitalphotos.net

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