Patent Lawyers AFRICA
February 23, 2012
Attorneys, Intellectual Property Information, Intellectual Property News, Inventions, Patents, Trade Marks ™ ®
Smit & Van Wyk, Inc. is an intellectual property law firm that specialize in obtaining and protecting your patent, trademark and design rights. Our focus is to provide legal services for intellectual property such as patents, trademarks and designs throughout Africa.
Our specialist patent and trademark lawyers serve international and local clients with patent filings and maintenance, and trademark registrations and renewals. We also provide legal advice on commercial rights attached to patents, trademarks and designs.
Our intellectual property services include:
PATENTS
Inventions : Biotechnology | Business Methods | Electrical | Electronic | Mechanical | Mining | Nanotechnology | Software
Patent applications, filings and registrations
Patent novelty search
Patent maintenance and renewals
Patent licensing
REGISTERED DESIGNS
Designs : Aesthetic | Functional | Industrial | Interaction | Patterns | Products
Design applications, filings and registrations
Design novelty search
Design maintenance and renewals
Design licensing
TRADEMARK
Marks : Combinations | Colors | Letters | Logos | Names | Numbers | Packaging | Shapes | Slogans
Trademark registrations
Trademark novelty search
Trademark maintenance and renewals
Trademark licensing
COPYRIGHT
Works : Books | Blogs | Broadcasts | Films | Novels | Photographs | Poems | Software Codes | Songs | Sounds
Copyright film registrations, U.S registrations
Copyright licensing
Smit & Van Wyk, Inc. also created an additional website with all the necessary information regarding intellectual property for all African countries. Here you can get information regarding the international treaties and member states, intellectual property offices, patent applications, design applications, trademark registrations, requirements and dates, as well as an in depth look at each country’s problems and infrastructure.
You can visit the international website here:
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International Attorneys
August 31, 2011
Intellectual Property Information
Intellectual Property Registrations
When having to apply for intellectual property rights in another country, you will have to make use of international attorneys specializing in intellectual property law such as trademarks, design rights, copyright, and patents.
The national laws of countries vary when it comes to copyright protection, trademarks, designs, and patents.
It is essential that you understand the procedures for filing an intellectual property right in the specific country and follow the procedures carefully.
This is where the expertise of international attorneys comes in. The international intellectual property attorneys are familiar with the various laws governing intellectual property as well as the various international treaties in place.
As such you will save effort, money, many frustrations and minimize the risk of application failure when making use of international attorney firms to assist with intellectual property registration.
One of the mistakes often made by trademark holders is to assume that their trademarks are valid in other countries.
International Trademark Registrations
Trademarks are geographically bound to specific regions and can only provide protection against infringement if registered in specific classes.
If you thus want your trademark to be valid in for instance, Botswana, you must first register it in South Africa and apply for registration in Botswana according to the national laws of the country.
The registration must also be done in all the classes in which you seek trademark protection.
International trademark attorneys can assist in this regard and will guide you regarding documents required, information that must be submitted, any translations which may be needed, trademark searches, and the actual application completion.
It is not only regarding trademarks where you will require the assistance of experienced international attorneys specialising in intellectual property laws, but also regarding patents and any of the other intellectual property rights.
Contact us at Smit & Van Wyk as international attorneys to assist you with any related intellectual property registrations and disputes in foreign countries.
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Small Business Owners
July 8, 2011
Copyright ©, Intellectual Property Information, Patents, Trade Marks ™ ®
In the United States intellectual property based businesses and entrepreneurs drive more economic growth than any other sector.
Today, counterfeiting, piracy and the theft of intellectual property pose a serious threat to all business owners and entrepreneurs.
These threats make it important to protect invention and innovation intellectual property, whether you’re a major multinational company or a small business.
While every business is vulnerable to intellectual property piracy and counterfeiting, small businesses can have a particular disadvantage because they lack the resources available to larger corporations.
Small businesses owners often skip the process of protecting their intellectual property. It is essential for small businesses owners to patent ideas or register company / brand names as trademarks.
Success in a global economy depends more and more on intellectual property assets.
What is my intellectual property?
Company name, logo, slogan, product name, product logo, any type of branding. These are all potential trademarks and need to be registered so that your business can have exclusive rights to these articles.
Inventions such as science inventions, biotech inventions, medical inventions, mechanical inventions, sports equipment inventions, electronic inventions and household inventions. These are all potential patents and need to be registered.
Novels, poems, textbooks, letters, reports, lectures, speeches, musical works, paintings, sculptures, drawings, photographs, films, recordings, books and computer related articles such as programming software, scripts and databases are all copyright works subject to copyright protection.
6 EASY STEPS to – Patent your Invention – Click here!
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 Articles
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Apple i Trademarks
June 20, 2011
Attorneys, Trade Marks ™ ®
Image source: www.cnn.com
Apple owns the iPod, iPhone, iTunes, iMac, iBooks, and now the iCloud. The AppleTV is called the AppleTV because Apple could not own the trademark to iTV without a losing legal battle.
AppleTV has been around since 2007 but ITV Global and Elgato owns the trademark in the UK.
AppleTV allows users to download movies and TV shows from iTunes to watch on their home TV sets.
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Trademarks | Getting Started
June 15, 2011
Attorneys, Trade Marks ™ ®
1. Trademark Search and Filing Procedure for South Africa
The main function of a trade mark is to distinguish the goods and services of a proprietor in the trade from other goods and services. Statutory trade mark protection will afford the proprietor the right to restrain the unauthorized use by a third party of an identical or confusingly similar trade mark in respect of the identical or confusingly similar goods/services for which the mark has been registered. A trade mark is also a valuable intellectual property asset.
2. Trademark Availability Search
When a new trade mark is identified, the first step is to conduct a trade mark availability and registrability search to ascertain if the mark is available for use and registration. The possibility exists that a third party may own a trade mark which is identical or confusingly similar to your proposed mark and if you use the mark, such use could amount to trade mark infringement. If you want to file an application to protect the mark, it is also important to know that the status of the register is as there may be obstacles which could prevent registration of the mark.
Costs for conducting trademark registrability searches in South Africa (inclusive of all fees, official expenses and VAT):
- Wordmark Search (per mark): R2508
- Logo/Device Search (per mark): R2850
3. Trademark Application
Once the search has been conducted and no obstacles were revealed, the next step is to file a trade mark application. The trade marks register is divided into 45 classes and it is important to identify all the goods and services of interest to ensure that the application/s is filed in the correct class/es. Should you wish to proceed, kindly furnish us with a detailed description on the specific goods and services for which the mark (s) will be used in order to enable us to advise you further on the specific classes of interest.
Costs for filing trademark applications in South Africa (inclusive of all fees, official expenses and VAT ):
- First Application: R2813
- 2nd Onwards Application (per mark per class): R2585
4. Process
Once a trade mark application has been filed, the Registrar will allocate an official filing number and the application will carry the registrar’s date stamp. Any identical of confusingly similar trade mark applications filed subsequently, will be refused as the earlier application will effectively act as a bar on the register. After the application has been filed, it takes approximately 10-13 months for the Registrar to examine the trade mark where after he will inform the applicant if the mark has been accepted, refused or whether it will be accepted if certain formal requirements are complied with.
Please note that the above quote includes all filing fees and official application disbursements. Prosecution costs resulting from the official examination are not included in the filing fees as such costs will depend upon the Registrar’s specific examination requirements. Further costs may be payable once the mark has been examined and /or accepted by the Registrar.
Once a trade mark proceeds to registration, the proprietor’s rights will date back to the date of filing. You may mark your pending trade mark application with the abbreviation ™ to indicate that trade mark rights are claimed. Only once the mark has proceeded to registration may you use the ®.
The rights in a trade mark are territorial and are limited to the territory in which registration has been obtained. The quote furnished above is for South Africa. If the trade mark is being used/will be used in other countries for example neighbouring countries like Namibia, Botswana, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Lesotho and Swaziland, consideration should be given to filing applications in the relevant countries which each has its own independent registry. Please let us know if you require more information in this regard.
There is no cross-referencing between the Register of Trade Marks and the registers of Companies and Close Corporations. It is therefore advisable, especially if the trade mark is to be used as the name of a Company or Close Corporation, to conduct a search at the offices of the Registrar of Companies and Close Corporations to ascertain if the name is available as the name of a Company or Close Corporation.
In order to proceed with the filing of your proposed mark please let us have the following information:
- Details of mark, i.e. wordmark and/or logo;
- Particulars of applicant;
- Physical address of applicant;
- Postal address of applicant;
- Classes of interest, alternatively a description of goods and services for which the mark will be used
We look forward to hearing from you.
Related Trademark Links
What is a Trademark? – A trade mark (trademark or trade-mark) is a distinctive sign used to identify original products or services…
Trademark Violations – Trademark infringement could cost you profits and damages and when your registered trademark is violated by…
Trademark Symbol – When a trademark is used in relation to services rather than products, it may sometimes be called a service mark…
Trademark Registrations – Anything which is used in trade to distinguish your goods or services from the goods and services of others…
Trademark a Name – Any name that is used in trade to distinguish your goods or services from the goods and services of others as…
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