Patents South Africa

Patents South Africa are granted by the Patent Office in Pretoria, but what is a patent and how do you go about getting that invention of your’s patented? A patent is a sole right that is granted to you for a specific period of time by the State’s representative, in the case of South Africa this is the Companies and Intellectual Property Registration Office, otherwise known as CIPRO, in exchange for a full disclosure of the invention to the public. This right entitles you to prevent others from using the invention in any practical way at all without your express permission or license. The right, or patent, is regarded as property, and like any other property it may be sold, licensed, mortgaged, assigned or transferred, given away, or simply abandoned. The patent does not give you the right to make, use or sell the invention yourself, for that may be governed by other laws. To use an extreme example, if you were to invent a new explosive you would not necessarily be allowed to manufacture it, for there are regulations that cover the manufacture of explosives.

In order for you to get a patent granted, there are several steps you must take. Firstly you must make sure that your invention really is your invention and that it has not already been made or patented anywhere else – not just in South Africa. You will need to carry out a Novelty Search – a search to establish the newness of your invention. This is carried out by a manual search in the Paper Based Disclosure Centre at the CIPRO offices in Pretoria. This search costs just R4.00 but is a long and drawn out process and you need to know exactly what you are looking for and where to look. It is far better to engage the services of a patent attorney or agent to do the search on your behalf. A patent attorney is also able to carry out searches in the databases and websites of other countries to ensure that the invention really is new. If this proves so, then the next step is to register the invention.

You will need to apply to Patents South Africa for a provisional patent. This is also done at the CIPRO offices in Pretoria. You must complete a set of application forms, one of which is the patent specification. This is a written description of your invention that is in sufficient detail to enable someone who is skilled in the art to make and use the invention. The specification must also be worded in a fashion acceptable in the Law, and it is therefore advisable to have the documents drawn up by a practicing patent attorney. The provisional patent, when granted, is valid for 12 months, and this time is for you to manufacture, test and market the invention. At any time during this 12 month period you may apply for a full patent, and in this case the documents must be handled by an attorney. This final patent may either be filed in the traditional system with Patents South Africa or filed with the PCT (Patent Co-operation Treaty) international filing system.