January 12, 2010 | Attorneys
The patent process can vary greatly from country to country. In South Africa you have the option to approach your application as a two-step process, giving you a certain amount of freedom and time to finalise your invention and associated planning with peace of mind.
The first step in the patent process is to file a South African provisional patent application to obtain the earliest possible date from which to claim rights to your invention. The second step is to file a complete patent application within 12 months of filing the provisional patent application. The rights you are protecting date back to the filing date of your South African provisional patent application, while you still have the opportunity to make changes and determine the financial feasibility of your invention before filing for the complete patent.
Contact Smit & Van Wyk Incorporated for any queries regarding the patent process. We have the knowledge and experience to advise you on the best routes and to guide you through the process quickly and efficiently.
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January 12, 2010 | Patent
You have had an inspired moment and came up with a product that provides a new way of doing something. It has taken hours of work, refining and tweaking it until it is ready for use. But hoe long will it take the competition to copy your idea? And what if they can make it even better? This is why patents are so important. By applying for patents on new inventions, you are ensuring that your hard work is being protected by law, granting you the sole right to exploit your product fully. This means that only you as the owner of the rights to the patents have the authority to make, use, sell or import the invention in question.
Smit & Van Wyk Incorporated focuses specifically on intellectual property such as patents, and our experienced staff will be able to assist you with any query regarding this topic.
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January 5, 2010 | Patent
When dealing with inventions on the cutting edge of technology, such as Biotechnology, Bioinformatics, Biochemistry, Nano-technology, Telecommunications, Computer technology, and Software, you will need the services of expert patent lawyers. These are fields in which the generation of intellectual property in the form of patents are essential to successfully compete against more established players.
Smit & Van Wyk’s patent lawyers are all dedicated individuals with a range of specialities and extensive experience in their field. They will be able to successfully guide you through the patent registration process as quickly and efficiently as possible. They are also available to provide valuable information and advice, as well as to help you protect your intellectual property if you are the owner of an already existing patent. Contact Smit & Van Wyk Incorporated to get in touch with some of the leading patent lawyers in the country.
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So, you have created a new invention, and now want to protect it by means of registering the patent. The best advice is to work through a professional patent lawyer to ensure your interests are fully protected. In order for successful registration, a patent lawyer will require some basic information:
Details of the invention: a detailed, technical description of the invention together with a description of the functions it performs and the distinguishing features of your invention.
Details of the inventor(s): in terms of the South African Patents Act, full names and residential address of the inventor(s) that contributed to the invention are required.
Details of the applicant: patents can be filed in the name of a person, such as the inventor, or a legal entity, such as a company.
Details of the client: the Financial Intelligence Centre Act requires legal service providers to identify who their client is.
Smit & Van Wyk Incorporated are specialists in intellectual property. A patent lawyer from our office will be able to guide you through this process successfully.
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January 4, 2010 | Patent
It is important to strictly adhere to the patent process in order to ensure that your intellectual property is protected and that you do not jeopardise the validity of the application. Usually the best way to start the patent process is to file a South African provisional patent application for your invention. This is done to obtain the earliest possible date from which to claim rights to your invention - much like an option to protect your invention. The second step is to file a complete patent application within 12 months of filing the provisional patent application. The complete patent application will claim a first (or "priority") date from your provisional patent application.
Smit & Van Wyk Incorporated have the necessary expertise to successfully guide you through the patent process and provide you with the best informative advice at any and every point during this course of action.
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The business world is constantly evolving, and nowadays it is the most innovative ideas that get noticed and propel a company to the forefront. Because of the increased importance and value of creations of the mind in the business world, more and more business owners are also realising the importance of the protection of this so-called intellectual property. This can be done by registering patents or trademarks, or claiming copyright on certain created material. The type of protection will obviously depend on the nature of the material.
Smit & Van Wyk Incorporated are Gauteng lawyers who specialise in the provision of legal services related to intellectual property. We offer a wide range of services and boast extensive knowledge on related topics. For the leading Gauteng lawyers in the field of intellectual property, contact Smit & Van Wyk Incorporated.
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The function of patents is not to give the owner the right to use or practise the products or inventions they have been issued for. A more accurate summation would be that patents rather exclude other people from exploiting the particular invention in the given territory. This means that only the owner of the rights to the patents have the authority to make, use, sell or import the invention in question. This right is subject to the payment of maintenance fees, and is comparable to a limited property right that the government offers then inventor in exchange for their agreement to share the details of the invention with the public. In effect, this agreement boosts development and even economic growth. Smit & Van Wyk Incorporated focuses specifically on intellectual property such as patents, and their experienced staff will be able to assist you with any query regarding this topic.
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September 28, 2009 | Patent
If you are an inventor and you have a new invention that you would like to patent, then the safest way of going about obtaining that patent is to make use of patent lawyers. Patent lawyers, or patent attorneys as they are called in South Africa, have passed examinations in Intellectual Property Law and have qualified for membership of the South African Institute of Intellectual Property Law, and being members, are bound by a code of ethics that is administered by the Council of the Institute.
Patent lawyers must have an engineering or a science degree as well as their law degree, since this is an absolute necessity for the understanding of the technical drawings that must accompany any patent application.
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If you have an invention that you know is novel and you suspect that other people may want to copy it or take advantage of it, providing that the invention falls within certain limitations you may be able to patent it. When letters patent are issued to you they pass on certain rights to you protecting the invention. The patent provides the owner with the exclusive right to prevent all others from exploiting the invention for the life of the patent, which in South Africa is usually 20 years from the date of the first patent application being filed.
If you have an invention that you would like to patent you should contact one of our patent attorneys
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There are a few categories for patent rights, but we recommend that you get in touch with one of our attorneys to help you determine under which category/categories you can file your invention for patent rights:
Machines
Manufacturing items
Components
Processes
Improvements
Machines
Machines can be mechanical devices or various devices together with a specific function that will lead to an outcome.
Manufactured items
This include any items not already included under machines, but which are tangible.
Components
The result of a mixture of compounds whether chemical or mechanical.
Processes
Specific steps or treatments which lead to an outcome that can be measured.
Improvements
Alterations to any of the above mentioned products.
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