Patent Protection for my Invention

September 29, 2011
Biotechnological Patents, Chemical Sciences Patents, Diagnostics Patents, Genetic Engineering Patents, Inventions, Medical Sciences Patents, Microbiological Sciences Patents, Patents

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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Patent Registrations In South Africa

August 29, 2011
Patents

In South Africa two types of patent registrations can be made:

1. Provisional
2. Complete Specification

Provisional Patent Registrations

A provisional patent application can be lodged without the assistance of an intellectual property attorney.

If you have developed an invention, but still need to modify it or improve it, you can get protection against copying, usage, distribution and commercial exploitation thereof by other parties by filing the provisional application.

It will award you a period of 12 months protection. For it to stay valid, you need to file the complete specification application within 12 months with the South African Patents Office.

The benefits of first filing a provisional application are:

1. It gives you the opportunity to further develop the invention ensuring that it will be protected during the development stage.
2. You can test the marketability of the invention during the 12 month period.
3. It also affords you the opportunity to get finance for which you will need to disclose information to other parties. You can disclose the information because the parties will not be able to decline assistance and then develop the invention.
4. It is cheaper than the complete specification application.
5. The provisional application is not as comprehensive as the complete specification application.
6. You get the earliest possible filing date which will be important should a dispute arise about the priority of patent applications.

Complete Specification Patent Registrations

As stated earlier, you must file the complete specification within 12 months from initial application. You can file for such directly if you are happy with the invention and are sure that it is marketable. For this step you must make use of an intellectual property attorney.

The invention must meet the requirements for patentability including that of absolute novelty, inventive step, and not being obvious to someone skilled in the trade as well as originality and usefulness in industry, agriculture or commerce.

Contact us at Smit & Van Wyk Attorneys for assistance regarding patent registrations in South Africa and abroad.

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Patent Owners and their Rights

August 25, 2011
Inventions, Patents

Patent Inventions

Patent owners are the exclusive rights holders for specific inventions. They receive the rights in return for full public disclosure about their inventions. As such patents are exclusive rights granted rather than rights to making or using of an invention.

Patent owners can assign their patent rights to other parties. In effect this implies transferring of the rights from the patent owner to another party.

Patents have the save attributes as personal property and as such can thus be sold to interest parties. The assignment must be recorded also in the Patent Office.

Entire ownership or a percentage of the ownership is transferred from the patent owner to the purchaser. The transfer must include all the rights which go with patent ownership such as the title and interest.

The patent right owners can furthermore award license rights to other parties. In this case the rights and ownership are retained while usage, marketing, distribution, making and selling rights can be awarded by means of a license agreement.

License Agreements

This may also for instance, include import rights. The party that obtains such rights is called the licensee whereas the patent owner awarding such rights by means of a licensing agreement is called the licensor.

There are specific obligations on the part of the licensee such as operation within the stipulated boundaries.

Patent owners can grant exclusive licenses to parties, meaning that the patent owner may then not compete with the licensee in a particular region and for a specific time and usage as stipulated in the license agreement between the parties.

There can be one or more patent rights owners for the same patent. Multiple patent owners can have interests in the same invention when they have worked together in the creation of the invention.

Contact us at Smit & Van Wyk Patent Attorneys for assistance in the registration, assignment, and licensing of patent rights.

Additional Articles & Information

How to patent inventions?

Patent protection

Patents in South Africa

Patent Owners

Patent Inventions

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How to protect my Invention?

August 17, 2011
Biotechnological Patents, Chemical Sciences Patents, Diagnostics Patents, Genetic Engineering Patents, Inventions, Inventors, Medical Sciences Patents, Microbiological Sciences Patents, Patents

How do I protect my invention? Do I need a patent, trade mark, or copyright?

For public disclosure and protection of an invention, the inventor needs to apply for a patent.

A patent is an exclusive right granted to an inventor for a limited period of time.

A patent application must define the invention as new, non-obvious, useful or industrially applicable.

This exclusive right granted to an inventor prevents others from making, using, selling, or distributing the patented invention without permission.

In most countries, both people and corporate entities may apply for a patent but in the United States only the inventor may apply for a patent.

A written patent application is filed at the relevant patent office by a patent attorney representing the applicant. The person or company filing the application is referred to as the applicant. The applicant may be the inventor or its assignee.

The application contains a description of how to make and use the invention. In some countries there are requirements for providing specific information. Drawings illustrating the invention may also be provided.

The application also includes one or more claims. The claims define what a patent covers or the scope of protection.

After filing the patent application, it is referred to as patent pending. This term does not confer legal protection, and a patent cannot be enforced until granted.

For a patent to be granted and take legal effect, the patent application must meet the requirements of that country. Once a patent is granted it is subject to renewal fees which are payable on a yearly basis.

A patent is not a right to use your invention but right to exclude others from using it.

The patented invention is usually protected for 20 years from the filing date subject to the payment of fees.

Patent rights may be sold, licensed, mortgaged, assigned or transferred, given away, or simply abandoned.

Many inventions are improvements of other inventions that may still be protected by a patent. If an inventor takes an existing, patented design, adds a new feature to make an improvement, and obtains a patent on the improvement, he can only legally build his improved design with permission from the patent holder of the original design.

Will I need an Intellectual Property Attorney?

Filing a patent application is very complex. Patent offices will not assist you in the preparation of applications, however, they do provide you with some instruction and guides. If you are ready conduct any intellectual property activity as a beginner you are strongly advised to contact a registered patent attorney or agent.

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