Before applying for patent protection it is important to establish that your invention is, in fact, new. If an invention has been described in prior art, a patent on that invention is not valid.
Prior art means all information that has been made available to the public in any form before the date of filing the patent application. Having established that the invention is novel, you may apply for patent protection, either a provisional patent application or complete/full patent application. Once the complete patent is granted, it protects you by granting to the patent owner a set of exclusive rights for a fixed period of time.
In South Africa this is 20 years. In exchange for this exclusivity you must undertake disclosure to the public of certain details regarding the invention – what it does, how it is made, its composition etc. This is done in the body of the patent specification. While you can conduct your own searches to determine how new your patent is, it is always better to engage the services of a patent attorney who is experienced in these matters.
The wording of any patent specification is extremely important, which is why it is strongly advisable to engage the services of a qualified patent attorney. The provisional patent protects you for 12 months, giving you time to build and test the invention and to assess the potential market. Within those 12 months you must apply for full patent protection, and this so-called complete patent application must be written and filed by a qualified patent attorney.
Patent protection gives you the right to exclude anyone else from making or using the patented invention without your express permission. The Letters Patent declares that the invention is your property, and as such it may be disposed of in the same way that you would be able to dispose of any other property.
That is to say, you may sell it, assign it to someone, license it, give it away, or even just abandon it if you so desire. You then have the right to the exclude anyone else from making or using the patented invention without your express permission.
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