How to protect my Invention?
September 19, 2011
Inventions, Patents
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.
Remember to keep your invention a secret until the patent application has been filed. Do not market, or sell it until a patent application has been filed.
Obtaining a patent is a two-step process spaced 12 months apart.
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.
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
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How does a Patent Ambush work?
February 8, 2011
Patents
Patent ambush is the phrase used to describe a situation of patent misuse where one of the standard setting organization’s members keeps vital information from the rest while setting up a new standard.
The member involved in the patent ambush is either the company owner or one of the members that intend to file a patent or is in the process of doing so when the patent is related to the specific standard being developed. Once the standard has been set, the member or the member’s company files for patent infringement because the standard embodies specific elements of the patent.
To prevent patent ambushes international standard setting institutions may have specific rules regarding information provision by member committees when they work together in setting a new standard. The institutes such as ANSI can require that all participants in the development of a new standard must disclose any patents pending, intention to file or knowledge about patents related to the standard upfront.
The institute will in order to prevent a patent ambush then take the required steps to modify the standard or as an alternative seek a commitment on paper by the patent holder or company to license the users of the standard in a normal and fair manner.
Patent ambushes are frowned upon by the intellectual property communities and many governments see the act of a patent ambush as against healthy competition and the building of trust.
The patent ambush can for instance, also take the form of the filing of a continuation patent application. In the application claims are lodged specifically aimed at the new standard.
A patent ambush can also be done regarding a sub-marine patent which is a patent that has not been made public for years after the application.
Contact us for assistance regarding any patent related issues.
Patent Caveat as forerunner to the Provisional Application
February 8, 2011
Patents
A patent caveat no longer exists. It was a form of legal document that could be filed with the patent office of the USA. Patent caveats were in use from 1836 to 1909 when such were discontinued.
What Did The Patent Caveat Entail?
It was similar to a patent application and also included elements such drawings and descriptions. The patent caveat, however, did not include any claims which one finds in the normal patent application. The patent caveat was rather a legal notice of the intention to apply for a patent at a later stage. One would have 12 months in which to then file the patent application. If one paid the renewal fee after a year the patent caveat could renewed for a like period.
Why Use A Patent Caveat?
With caveat fees being far lower than the actual patent application filing fees, one could save a lot of money while exploring the marketability of the invention. With no attorney fees involved in the application, the applicant could relatively easy reserve a patent and thus limit possibilities of competitors registering patents for the period.
The provisional patent application of today is the modern equivalent of the patent caveat. The difference lies in the renewable nature of the patent caveat as the provisional patent cannot be renewed whereas the patent caveat can.
In previous years when patent caveats were still in force one would file the caveat to prevent others from registering a similar patent for a related invention before the final application was done. The procedure involved a search of the caveat lists to determine that no other caveats were registered prior to the particular patent caveat application date. If such wee found, the applicant would receive a notification from the relevant Patent Office about the invention.
The applicant then had a window of opportunity which lasted three months to file the final patent application which had to be accompanied by the claims for the invention.
Contact us at Smit & Van Wyk Attorneys to assist with the filing of modern day patent caveats in the form of provisional patent applications.
Patent Family Explained
February 8, 2011
Attorneys, Patents
The patent family refers to a group of patents registered in several countries to protect an invention. The patent application is done in one country and then obtains priority. This priority is then extended to numerous countries.
A patent family is thus one invention which is patented in several countries by one inventor or group of inventors.
All of the patents in the patent family are linked by priority numbers which are shared and which have the priority dates in common. The idea of a patent family came as far back as 1883 with the Paris Convention. The relationship between the patent application document and the priority determines the description of the patent family.
The patents in the same patent family can have differences in the scope of protection because of priority dates and the claims accepted in applications by the various patent offices around the world.
When a patent search is conducted one can also search for patent families. It should be noted that although database organisers do everything they can to ensure uniformity and thus the ability to retrieve all the documents related to a patent family, that some documents may still not be retrieved.
When viewing the above one can see that there is a correlation between a patent family and the normal human family. Every document is related to another is some way or another and connected because of priorities. One should note that in a patent family there are also active and non-active priorities. The simple patent families do not include the non-active priorities, but more complex patent families may very well.
If you want to ensure that all documents related to a patent family are retrieved it will be best to make use of patent attorneys familiar with the various patent databases and how to search for complete patent families.
Contact us at Smit & Van Wyk for assistance.
Guidance by Patent Attorneys
April 7, 2010
Patents
The Smit & Van Wyk Gauteng patent Attorneys assist clients in various ways including that of consultation. One example of a situation where the guidance of the Smit & Van Wyk Attorneys will be useful is that of knowing the rights that are obtained when a patent application is successful.
Advice will be provided such as that the patent rights are only valid for 20 years according to the specific country’s laws and subject to the renewal fees payment.
In addition the client will be advised on the exploitation rights associated with the invention.
If for example, a person invented a soda machine that is an improvement on another type of soda machine, the rights owner will only be able to commercially exploit their patent rights on the improved machine if the permission of the original rights owner of the machine improved upon is obtained.
Patent Links
- Gadget Invention Patent Application – Even before you take the gadget invention to another party for review and assistance, file the all important provisional patent application.
- How to Patent Inventions – To protect your rights as an inventor you need to file patent applications for your inventions in each country, where protection is sought.
- Protect your Invention – For public disclosure and protection of an invention, the inventor needs to apply for a patent.
- Patent Application – Contact Request
