Since the lifting of economic sanctions against South Africa, trade with the rest of the world has increased dramatically, and many multinational organizations have moved into the country. Such multinational organizations may be interested in the requirements for filing patent applications in South Africa. South Africa has been a member of the PCT since 16 March 1999.
The deadline for filing PCT national phase applications in South Africa is 31 months from the earliest priority date. The South African Registrar of Patents may use his discretion to extend the national phase entry deadline by three months, if the applicant makes a formal request to him. The Registrar of Patents in South Africa can be found in the CIPRO (Companies and Intellectual Property Registration Office) at 77 Meintjies Street, Sunnyside in Pretoria.
The requirements for multinational organizations filing for patents in South Africa can be found on our website under the Foreign agents tab, and we will be happy to assist any multinational organizations in filing South African patents applications or applications for the registration of designs or trade marks.
Here are a few salient points that multinational organizations should take careful note of. Patent specifications can be in any language of a member country of PCT, but a verified English translation has to be filed within three months of the South African filing date.
This deadline is not extendible. Formal drawings on A4 size sheets have to be filed, in duplicate, within eighteen months of the South African filing date, or within three months of an Official Action calling for the formal drawings. An Abstract of no more than 150 words has to be filed within eighteen months of the South African filing date.
Originals of signed documents have to be filed. All documents must be originals - the Registrar does not accept, for example, ordinary photocopies or faxed copies of signed documents. Accordingly, such documents have to be sent to us by mail or courier. Neither legalization nor notarization of documents is required in South Africa.
A certified copy of the priority application should be filed if the South African application is to claim Convention priority and, if applicable, a verified English translation of the priority document. Priority documents issued by the USPTO on disk in electronic format are acceptable to the South African Registrar, provided they are accompanied by a hard copy print out of the contents of the disk, and provided the hard copy is certified as a true copy by an attorney.
The extendible deadline for filing the priority document is six months from the South African filing date. Multinational organizations should note that the above notes are merely an abbreviated extract of the total requirements for filing for a patent in South Africa.
For a more complete list of requirements please take a look at our web pages or, contact one of our Intellectual Property Attorneys, who will be happy to assist you.
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