Patent Cost

One of the first questions that goes through the mind of an inventor is “How much does a patent cost?”. The whole process of filing registration of a patent is very involved, especially if the invention is something rather complicated. It is best handled by a patent attorney that specializes in your field of invention. Patent attorneys in South Africa are required by law to have law degrees and technical degrees, such as an engineering or science degree. Registration can be effected by the inventor himself obtaining the necessary papers and filing them at CIPRO quite cheaply, but this is not advised as the chances are that he or she will fail to adequately describe the invention, which may cause the inventor to forfeit his/her patent rights. Even the slightest error can jeopardize the eventual enforceability of the application. As the Patent Office cannot accept any responsibility for the loss of rights arising if the invention becomes public and is copied and the provisional specification has not been properly drafted, it is certainly advisable to obtain the services of a patent attorney. Patent attorneys have received many years of training in the drafting and enforcing of patents and are familiar with international requirements. They are therefore able to draft provisional specifications in an internationally acceptable fashion, and so promoting protection both in South Africa and elsewhere.

Before submitting registration papers it is advisable to have a novelty search performed by a patent attorney through international databases at their disposal. It is also sensible to have searches conducted through CIPRO’s Paper Based Disclosure Centre in Pretoria – this must be done at their offices and the cost of this search, if carried out by an attorney, must be added to the patent cost.

The registration of a patent comes in three distinct phases, each phase with a different cost. Following the conducting of a search, and should you feel you’re your invention is novel and inventive in the light of what has been located by the search, the filing cost for a provisional patent is a small fee together with legal fees of between R7000 and R12000, depending on the complexity of the patent and its related paperwork. An accurate assessment of this cost can only be made after a meeting between the inventor and patent attorneys. The reason for this is that each invention is different to other and accordingly, each patent specification and the drawings must be tailor-made for each invention, a process which requires a high level of effort and takes many, many hours.

After the provisional patent has been filed, one should determine whether a market exists for one’s product. Should this be the case an application should be made within 12 months for a so-called “complete” South African patent. This can only be done by a registered patent attorney. Legal fees for this application are usually between 30% and 40% more than for the drafting and filing of a provisional patent application. Once granted, it should, however, be noted that a patent will lapse if the annual renewal fees are not paid timeously.

It is important to understand that a patent granted in South Africa is only valid in South Africa, and there is nothing to stop anyone in another country from copying it, except if patent applications are filed and granted in each such country. Each such application will, however, be dated back to the filing date of the original application filed in South Africa 12 months earlier. For patent protection overseas it is advisable to file an international reservation with the PCT (Patent Co-operation Treaty) international filing system. Please contact Smit & Van Wyk for further details of foreign patent filings.