Archive for the ‘Other’ Category
April 26, 2010 | Other
WIPO stands for World Intellectual Property Organization and is a United Nations (UN) agency which came into being in the late 1960s. The WIPO headquarters are located in Switzerland in the city of Geneva. There are 184 member states of the organisation, representing more than 89% of the countries globally.
WIPO administrates 23 treaties of which four are for classification, 13 for Intellectual Property Protection and a further six for worldwide protection. The application process for a patent is uncomplicated, but it is important to note that of the 184 member states must approve the patent before it becomes valid and protected within their borders. This can take a while. Since it is a UN agency, it ensures that the protection granted will be respected by each of the member states.
WIPO however, doesn’t only provide protection for patents, but also other Intellectual Property including that of copyright, designs, and trademarks. With this protection artists and musicians have the freedom to create masterpieces and have the assurance that their copyrighted works will be protected in all the member states. Photographers, writers, and architects, companies looking to brand, and designers such as jewellery designers also have their fair share of protection.
If you want your patent to be protected worldwide, you need to apply for such internationally. Get in contact with our lawyers for assistance and guidance. Our years of experience regarding intellectual property applications, locally and internationally will be to your benefit. Contact us today for assistance regarding registration of intellectual property rights as overseen by WIPO.
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March 19, 2010 | Other
There are numerous benefits associated with the use of Pretoria trademark lawyers to file trademark applications. Although you can go the route of application without Pretoria trademark lawyers, it should be noted that you will also have to conduct trademark searches before registering a specific logo, slogan, product or service as trademark. The searches must be comprehensive as another company can very well come along a few months down the line and challenge the trademark after you have invested a lot of money in your branding. If the challenger wins you will have to either pay compensation or will have to discontinue usage of the trademark. In some cases both will be required. The Smit & Van Wyk Pretoria trademark lawyers have years of experience in trademark registration and as such will help you avoid all the pitfalls associated with the trademark application process.
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March 19, 2010 | Other
Don’t fall into the trap of building a brand and investing thousands to millions without registering a trademark for your company name. The Smit & Van Wyk Gauteng trademark attorneys can assist. It should be noted that if a product is trademarked, it doesn’t mean that your company name will also automatically be trademarked. A trademark registration must be done for every item, logo, slogan, title, domain name, and business name for which you want exclusive usage rights. Registering the company name at CIPRO doesn’t protect it against the usage from another party. You need trademark registration for exclusivity. If you want help with the process contact the experienced team of Gauteng trademark attorneys at Smit & Van Wyk.
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South Africa Patent Laws favour the usage of attorneys Even though it is possible to file a patent application directly without the usage of a patent lawyer or attorney, it cannot be recommended. The reason is simple. The South Africa patent laws favour the usage of an attorney. The South African Patent Office is a non-investigating office. This means that you can complete the application, file it and even receive the patent right upon payment of the required fees without the invention complying with all the requirements. It is not a loophole in the system. It simply means that the responsibility lies with the applicant to ensure that the invention is indeed patentable and that the application will be done correctly. The snag comes in when another applicant or company questions the patentability of the invention down the line or argues that the idea was not original at all. Lawsuits may follow and all the money already spent in the commercial development of the patent may be lost forever. You will need the help of a patent lawyer who knows the South Africa patent laws and will conduct the novelty searches and apply in the correct manner right from the word go.
Click here for more information regarding the LESI Conference 2010
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If guarded properly, trade secrets are forever. A business may keep the formula to Coca-Cola a secret. However, once it is disclosed to the public, the former secret enters public domain, although an invention using the former secret may still be patentable if it is not barred by statute. Some businesses choose to protect products, processes, and information by guarding them as trade secrets, rather than patenting them. Hershey Foods, Inc., for example, does not patent some of its processes, such as the recipe for Reese's, but rather maintains them as trade secrets, to prevent competitors from easily duplicating or learning from their invention disclosures, or from using the information after the patent lapses. One risk, however, is that anyone may reverse engineer a product and thus discover (and copy and publish) all of its secrets, to the extent they are not covered by other laws (e.g. contract).
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The British Statute of Anne, full title “An Act for the Encouragement of Learning, by Vesting the Copies of Printed Books in the Authors or Purchasers of such Copies, during the Times therein mentioned”, was the first act to directly protect the rights of authors. Since its inception, copyright is considered a property right and attempts to balance the rights of the producer with the rights of society at large. According to the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), intellectual property laws, which includes industrial property and copyright, exist for primarily two reasons:
"One is to give statutory expression to the moral and economic rights of creators in their creations and to the rights of the public in accessing those creations. The second is to promote creativity, and the dissemination and application of its results, and to encourage fair trade, which would contribute to economic and social development."
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The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) is a proposed multiilateral trade agreement that is claimed by its proponents to be in response "to the increase in global trade of counterfeit goods and pirated copyright protected works”. The scope of ACTA is broad, including counterfeit physical goods, as well as "internet distribution and information technology". In October 2007 the United States, the European Community, Switzerland and Japan announced that they would negotiate ACTA. Furthermore the following countries have joined the negotiations: Australia, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Mexico, Jordan, Morocco, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates and Canada. The ACTA negotiations have been largely conducted in secrecy, with very little information being officially disclosed.
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The entrepreneurial spirit of the Griffiths family
Windmills dot the South African landscape. Few of us realise what an interesting history the modern day windmill has and how it came to use in South Africa. This article tells the history of the modern-day windmill and the impact it had on our economies.
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Smit & Van Wyk Inc.
What is a patent?
Stripped of legal speak, a patent is a 20 year monopoly granted to an inventor by the State.
What is patentable?
You must have originated something that is:
• New;
• Inventive; and
• Useful
If your invention meets these three requirements, generally it will be considered patentable, object to certain exceptions discussed below.
How do I know if my invention is “new”?
An indication of the novelty of your invention may be obtained by conducting patent and literature searches. This will show whether anyone has brought an invention identical to yours into the public domain. South Africa has a socalled absolute novelty requirement – this means that even the inventor may unwittingly have destroyed the novelty of his/her own invention by disclosing it prior to obtaining patent protection. However, reasonable technical trials maysometimes be excused.
What is considered “inventive”?
Even if your invention is new (i.e. there is nothing identical to it in the public domain), then there may still be other products that are similar to your invention (also know as the “prior art”). To determine whether your invention may be considered inventive, one has to ask whether someone skilled in the field of the invention would have considered your invention to have been obvious. This is usually a very subjective assessment and the decision to patent is sometimes dictated more by business strategy than by obviousness considerations.
Utility – must my invention have a use?
Yes - this is generally the easiest patenting hurdle to overcome, as a use can be found in trade, industry or agriculture for most inventions that are considered new and inventive.
I have created something new, inventive and useful – what next?
Speak to us about preparing and filing a patent application for your invention. However, you must keep your invention secret until you have filed a patent application to avoid destroying the novelty thereof. Remember that the patentability of your invention is no guarantee of commercial success.
What is NOT patentable?
Traditionally, software and business methods have not been considered to be patentable under South African law. However, due to increasing numbers of patents being granted for software and business method inventions in the USA and Europe, we trust that South African courts will soon rule favourably on this matter. In addition, games, mathematical methods, discoveries, artistic, musical or dramatic works, methods of performing mental acts and the presentation of information are not considered patentable under SA law. Similarly, inventions that will encourage offensive or immoral behaviour are also excluded from patentability, together with frivolous inventions like perpetual motion machines. In the medical and biological sciences, methods of treatment, therapy or diagnosis performed on humans or animals are not considered patentable, nor are products of biological processes which are not essentially microbiological in nature. For further information in this regard, please refer to our Life Sciences brochure.
Can I obtain patent protection for something I saw at a show or in a foreign country?
No. Except for the fact that you cannot claim someone else’s invention as your own, the invention will no longer be considered “new” under SA law. Only the actual inventor and/or any person to whom he/she has assigned the patent may apply for patent protection. It may, however, still be possible for you to exploit the invention in SA, provided it has not been patented in this country. Speak to your patent attorney regarding the conducting of infringement and state of the art searches. Alternatively, may apply to the patentee for a license to exploit the invention in protected areas.
How do I obtain a patent?
Patenting is essentially a two step process, with the two steps being spaced 12 months apart. The first step is to file a provisional patent application for your invention. This is done so that you may have the earliest possible date from which to claim rights to your intellectual creation – similar to an option to protect your invention. The second step is to file a complete patent application within 12 months of filing the provisional application. This application will claim a first (or “priority”) date from your provisional application. In other words, the rights you are protecting date back to the filing date of your provisional application – you do not lose any rights in the interim 12 month period.
Why this two step approach?
Complete applications are more expensive to file than provisional applications and it is not possible to add additional matter to a complete application once it has been filed. The reason for this two-step approach is therefore to give you time to (cost-effectively) see whether there is a market for your invention without losing any rights, as well as to give you time to hone your invention into its “perfected” form. Thus, the filing of a provisional patent application is a sensible, costeffective way of testing the waters. Furthermore, it must be borne in mind that any modifications that you make to the invention as contained in the provisional specification must be kept secret until such modifications have been captured in a second provisional patent application or are included in the eventual complete patent application. As you develop your invention, your patent portfolio must keep abreast as well.
Must I file a complete patent application?
It is important to note that a provisional patent application does not provide you with an enforceable right - it is
merely a device which allows you to test the market without destroying the novelty of you invention. You only have an enforceable right once you have filed a complete patent application for the final form of your invention and it has been granted by the Patent Office. However, should your competitors start copying your invention while your application is still pending, it is possible to expedite the granting of your patent at the Patent Office. Annual maintenance fees must then be paid to keep the patent in force, failing which the patent lapses and you lose your rights to the invention.
What does “Patent Pending” on articles refer to?
This refers to a patent application that has not yet proceeded ...
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Trade secrets are by definition not disclosed to the world at large. Instead, owners of trade secrets seek to keep their special knowledge out of the hands of competitors through a variety of civil and commercial means, not the least of which is the use of non-disclosure agreements (NDA) and non-compete clauses. In exchange for the opportunity to be employed by the holder of secrets, an employee will sign an agreement not to reveal his or her prospective employer's proprietary information. Often, the employee will also sign over rights to the ownership of own intellectual works produced during the course (or as a condition) of their employment. Violation of the agreement generally carries the possibility of stiff financial penalties. These penalties operate as a disincentive to revealing trade secrets.
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