Many people are under the mistaken impression that they do not have to engage South African patent attorneys to help with the application process to register an invention for patent rights, since the initial application at the SA Patent Office costs so little. It is correct that it is possible to file an application for such rights without engaging patent attorneys. However, you should realize that our registration office does not perform investigations.
It means that as long as the application procedures have been met that the SA Patent Office will approve the application. They also maintain a database containing all the applications and registrations. They do not check to see if there has been another previous application or whether a similar invention is already in existence. In addition, they do not go through the databases and printed media to find out if any information regarding the invention was published before your application was submitted. There are no aspects of legalities handled by the SA Patent Office. They do take care of the administration process regarding patent applications.
If you successfully file your invention at the South African Patent office without doing a database and novelty search, sometime in the future you may find yourself involved in a lawsuit in which someone else believes you have infringed on his or her rights. The responsibility thus lies with you as the applicant to make sure that the invention is unique, novel, original, useful, and of commercial, industrial or agricultural value. It is possible to withdraw your registration and rights if any information was published regarding the invention before you submitted your application.
You may not have the skills, access to databases, and the time to conduct a thorough investigation to ensure all the above. As such patent attorneys will handle the whole process on your behalf and ensure that you will not end-up at the other end of a lawsuit a few years from now.
Contact the patent attorneys from Smit & Van Wyk for assistance and a quote.