Patent Renewals & Fees

February 1, 2012
Intellectual Property News and Interesting Facts

Based on your South African provisional patent application, you will have 12 months in which to file a complete patent application.

A 3 month extension period beyond the 12 month deadline is available in South Africa only for filing a South African complete patent application. This is not available in other countries.

Failure to file a complete patent application within the set deadlines may result in your patent rights being forfeited.

Once a patent has been granted, annual renewal fees are payable. A patent will lapse if the renewal fees are not paid.

Patent rights are only valid for 20 years and subject to renewal fees payment.

Patent renewal fees must be paid starting from the 3rd year after the complete application was filed to keep the patent in force.

Smit & van Wyk, Inc. patent attorneys services include annual patent renewal payment reminders and administration.

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(+27) 012 349 7800

E-mail:
enquiries@svw.co.za

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Persequor Technopark
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Pretoria
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South Africa

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Lego man sent to Space

January 26, 2012
Intellectual Property News and Interesting Facts

January 2012 – Two High school students from Toronto launched a Lego man more than 24 kilometers / 15 miles into the stratosphere.

Grade 12 students Mathew Ho and Asad Muhammad used a weather balloon to to carry a camera high above the clouds.

They heard about similar projects by students in the United States and Britain that had resulted in amazing footage of near space.

Over a period of a few months they designed a capsule that would carry 4 cameras and the Lego man with parachute into space. The Lego man carried a Canadian flag.

They inserted the cameras into a capsule made of styrofoam, along with a GPS cellphone.

The balloon eventually pops and and it tumbles back to Earth. Ho and Muhammad were able to recover the balloon with the Lego mant intact more than 120km from the launched site.

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Programmable Subcutaneous Visible Implant

January 26, 2012
Intellectual Property News and Interesting Facts

This interesting invention from the Interval Research Corporation is an electronic implant beneath the skin surface displaying an image based upon a display signal.

It displays various re-programmable information or decorative patterns beneath the surface of the skin of a person or an animal.

The implant is constructed of a flexible material so as to conform to the skin’s surface. It includes a battery for providing power to the implant.

The subcutaneous implant also includes a receiver for receiving programming information from a user, and a display for displaying the programming information through the skin.

Filed: 7 June 1995

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World Design Impact Prize

January 23, 2012
Intellectual Property News and Interesting Facts

The World Design Impact Prize recognise, empower and stimulate socially responsible design projects and initiatives from around the world.

Presented by the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design, the World Design Impact Prize will honour and reward exceptional industrial design driven projects that are making a positive impact on the quality of life.

The World Design Impact Prize creates an exciting opportunity for members and the general public to play an active role in recognising and honouring projects that create a better world through design.

Finalists for The World Design Impact Prize:

Bahikhaata (India)
A financial literacy tool for the empowerment of women, to be used by NGOs in India. The accent is on teaching micro financing to groups with limited literacy skills.

Chulha (India)
The Chulha stove was designed to replace the traditional stoves that were contributing to respiratory diseases, especially in rural India.

Community Cooker (Kenya)
The community cooker is a combination of stoves and ovens for use by many people at once, fueled by waste paper.

Innovation Center (Chile)
This social innovation lab has generated instances of co-creation between people in vulnerable communities, the academic world, and private and public sectors in order to create models for the elimination of poverty and other global threats.

Jaipur Prosthetics (India)
The Jaipur prosthetic feet, knees and limbs, have help re-mobilise thousands of amputees all over the world and rehabilitated these individuals economically and socially.

N200 (Haiti)
The Nokero N200 solar light bulb is an all-in-one photovoltaic LED lighting system that is sleek, portable, and affordable. It is a safe, energy and cost efficient replacement for Kerosene lamps.

Size China (Hong Kong)
Helmets and other headgear have been designed based on the head size and shape of those in the western hemisphere. SizeChina has created the first 3D digital database of Chinese head and face shapes to help manufacturers of headgear.

The first recipient of the World Design Impact Prize will be announced at the World Design Capital International Design Gala on 2 February 2012 in Helsinki, Finland.

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IP practice of Bowman Gilfillan merge with Adams & Adams

January 20, 2012
Intellectual Property News and Interesting Facts

Today Adams & Adams announced the merger with the Intellectual Property practice of Bowman Gilfillan as of 1 March 2012.

Bowman Gilfillan incorporated the firms Bowman Gilfillan Hayman Godfrey, Findlay & Tait and the well known specialist IP law form John & Kernick, which was established in the early 1900′s. John & Kernick merged with Bowman Gilfillan in the early 2000′s. At that stage John & Kernick was still predominantly known as a specialist IP law firm.

The merger with Bowman Gilfillan in the early 2000′s raised the question of synergy between specialist IP law practices on the one hand and general law practices and specialist corporate law firms on the other hand.

The merger of the IP law practice of Bowman Gilfillan with Adams & Adams seems to indicate that there is a niche market for specialist IP law practices.

Bowman Gilfillan, is primarily known as a leading corporate/commercial law firm which acquired the expertise to handle IP matters with the incorporation of John & Kernick.

The merger between Adams & Adams and the IP practice of Bowman Gilfillan emphasizes the fact that an IP law practice is a specialist field of practice that require specialist infrastructure and expertise to practice efficiently.

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