|
It is important to consider patent costs before filing a patent application, whether it is a provisional or a complete patent application.
The patent costs range from R8000 for inventions with low or not complicated technical details to about R12000 for medium technical complexity. The costs surrounding the filing of an application should thus not be calculated based solely on the application fees at the South African Patent Office.
Although certainly not high, the Patent Office fees do not include the novelty searches through the patent databases, journals, and trade directories. In addition such patent costs also don’t reflect the costs involved in ensuring accurate drawings, a prototype, and specifications.
As such the inventor will do well to rather work with the amounts provided above than the application fee at the South African Patent Office.
If you are unsure whether you should proceed with an application, contact us for a consultation. We will discuss the procedures and costs involved.
Once you give us the instruction to proceed with the application, we will take all the steps required to ensure a successful application. It should be noted that the costs for filing for a complete patent application are a bit higher than those associated with the provisional application.
Since there is a 12 month window in which you can file the complete patent application from the date that the provisional application was filed and approved, you will have enough time to assess whether there is enough commercial gain to proceed with a complete patent application.
You also need to keep in mind that patent costs also exist after the registration of the patent. Annual renewal fees are payable and if not paid, the patent lapses. A request for restoration of the patent should then be filed with the Patent Office Registrar.
Contact us today for a consultation and more accurate quote based on your particular invention and the preparation work to be done for filing an application.
|
