Intellectual Property Policy

Intellectual property policy of certain companies or institutions governs the intellectual property rights of an individual employed by that organization. Under normal circumstances an individual who invents an item in his own time and place retains all rights to the patent. If, though, the same individual invents the same item during the course of a working day, the rights to that item may rest with the company he or she is employed by. Most companies state in the conditions of employment that their employees must sign when first taking office that anything created during the period of employment belongs to the company. Irrespective of the terms of an employment contract, no inventor is obliged to assign an invention over to his employer if the invention was made in his own time and not during the course of his working hours.

Generally speaking the author of a work is regarded as its first owner, but there are exceptions to this rule, which should be borne in mind. For example, in the case of literary works or photographs made by an author or photographer while working for a newspaper or magazine, ownership belongs to the publisher for those parts of the works that he uses, the unused work remains the property of the author or photographer. If someone is commissioned to write an article, on being paid for writing that article, copyright passes from the original author to the person commissioning it.

Intellectual property falls under four separate headings; patents, trademarks, designs and copyrights. In each case the regulations and requirements for the various types of intellectual property are governed by Acts of Parliament. Owners of intellectual property should register their property where necessary with the Companies and Intellectual Property Registration Office, a department of the Department of Trade and Industry, in Pretoria. In all cases it is advisable to engage the services of an Intellectual Property Lawyer to make the registration on your behalf. Patent Attorneys and Trademark Attorneys 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. Apart from anything else, this code of ethics bids lawyers to secrecy, which is so important in cases of Intellectual Property.

If you think that you are the rightful owner of intellectual property, if you have any queries about your rights or about how to go about registering a patent, trademark, design or copyright, seek out the nearest intellectual property lawyer for the best advise. The secrecy of your property will be guaranteed.