The earliest recorded use of the phrase Intellectual property was in 1845 in a
Massachusetts Circuit Court ruling in a patent case when he wrote Justice Charles L.
Woodbury wrote that "Only in this way can we protect intellectual property, the labors
of the mind etc….”.
Intellectual property has become a phrase that is in daily use,
so much so that there are now many thousands of Intellectual Property Lawyers around
the world. The protection of Intellectual Property in the law has become big business.
In South Africa Intellectual Property is protected under four Acts of Parliament,
which govern the four broad divisions of intellectual property.
Copyright protection in South Africa differs from other forms of intellectual
property in that, with a couple of exceptions, it is not a right that needs to be
registered. The copyright of a work rests with the author of that work once it has
been created in material form. Generally speaking, any original work created by a
qualified person is eligible for protection.
The work must be the original creation of
the author’s mind. A qualified person means any South African National or Resident or
of a Berne Convention Country. The work in question must have been recorded in
material form – ideas are not considered protectable by copyright.
Although not
necessary, it is a good idea to append the words eg “copyright J Jones 2006”
or “© Name date” to a written work.
One important division of intellectual property protection is that of Patents. A
patent is a set of rights granted to a inventor by the State granting him or her the
exclusive right to develop that invention to the exclusion of others in return for
disclosure of certain details of the invention. The invention must be novel and must
be usable in trade, industry or agriculture. Patents are valid for a period of twenty
years from the first application for registration with CIPRO.
A patent is regarded as
property, and may be disposed of in the same way as property. It may be sold,
licensed, mortgaged, assigned or transferred, given away, or simply abandoned.
A trademark is the next form of intellectual property that is given protection by
the law. A trademark can be the most important asset a company possesses – think of
Coca Cola, a trademark that is known the world over. Even the shape of the coke bottle
is regarded as a trademark.
Trademarks may be logos, brand names or a slogan. Kentucky
Fried Chicken uses all three, the brand name, the logo of Colonel Saunders and the
slogan “Its finger licken’ good”. The owner of a trademark is protected from other
.companies copying his trademark or from using anything that even vaguely resembles
it. Once registered, a trademark is good for ever but it must be renewed every ten
years.
The Designs Act governs the fourth type of intellectual property. Designs are
divided into two parts, aesthetic designs and functional designs, and each may be
registered with CIPRO at their office in Pretoria. Intellectual property protection
is valid for 15 and 10 years respectively.
|
