Confidential Information
July 24, 2009
Intellectual Property News, Trade Secrets
A company can protect its confidential information through non-compete and non-disclosure contracts with its employees (within the constraints of employment law, including only restraint that is reasonable in geographic and time scope). The law of protection of confidential information effectively allows a perpetual monopoly in secret information – it does not expire as would a patent. The lack of formal protection, however, means that a third party is not prevented from independently duplicating and using the secret information once it is discovered.
Trade Secret
July 24, 2009
Trade Secrets
The precise language by which a trade secret is defined varies by jurisdiction (as do the particular types of information that are subject to trade secret protection). However, there are three factors that, although subject to differing interpretations, are common to all such definitions: a trade secret is information that:
- is not generally known to the public
- confers some sort of economic benefit on its holder (where this benefit must derive specifically from its not being generally known, not just from the value of the information itself)
- is the subject of reasonable efforts to maintain its secrecy.
Discovering a Trade Secret
June 24, 2009
Trade Secrets
Companies often try to discover one another’s trade secrets through lawful methods of reverse engineering on one hand, and potentially unlawful methods including industrial espionage on the other.
Acts of industrial espionage are generally illegal in their own right under the relevant governing laws. The importance of that illegality to trade secret law is as follows: if a trade secret is acquired by improper means (a somewhat wider concept than “illegal means” but inclusive of such means), the secret is generally deemed to have been misappropriated.
Thus if a trade secret has been acquired via industrial espionage, its acquirer will probably be subject to legal liability for acquiring it improperly.
Counterfeit Products kill the economy
May 26, 2009
Intellectual Property News, Patents, Trade Marks ™ ®, Trade Secrets
It is not only South Africa that has a problem with counterfeit products.
Counterfeit products have become an international problem. E-Bay is for instance, caught up in lawsuits for allegedly not doing enough to prevent the sale of counterfeit products at their website.
The problem with counterfeit products is not only on the competitive side where money due to the rightful inventor or trademark holder thus goes to the fraud companies, but also on the consumer side.
The consumer is betrayed in the sense that he or she purchases products which are in fact fakes at the same or higher price than what should have been paid for the real deal.
In many cases the fake or counterfeit products are inferior and even dangerous especially when it comes to electrical appliances.
Consumers are requested to report counterfeit products for the protection of companies and their own safety.
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
Trademark Registration Benefits
February 16, 2009
Intellectual Property News, Trade Marks ™ ®, Trade Secrets
Trademark registration benefits are numerous even when considering the initial process and costs.
Even when a company doesn’t use the trademark such as the logo or brand name, the mere fact that it is registered affords the company or owner the right to stop the usage or successful registration of any logo or brand name that resembles the one owned.
Even when only an illusion of resemblance is created, can the owner take steps to prevent the further usage of the trademark.
Trademark registration is thus the first important step in protecting a company brand. Without the trademark registration the owner will have a difficult time to prevent others from using the logo or brand name and will have to base their case on common law.
Another one of the trademark registration benefits not to be overlooked is that of notification to all interested parties of any rights to which the applicant may claim.
The details of such as registration are kept at the Trade Marks Office for South Africa. If someone else wants to register a similar trademark, the searches through the records at the Trade Marks Office will bring to light that such a trademark registration already exists – thus protecting the current owner against accidental similar registrations by other parties.
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
