What is a patent?

If you have had the creativity and foresight to come up with an invention no one else has even thought of, you can protect it with a patent. This gives you the exclusive right to produce and sell the product for a certain period of time. Your invention will also be protected from being made or sold without your permission.

Patenting something you have invented is quite an involved procedure, but very necessary to protect yourself from potential copycats. This article is a very basic guideline to what the process entails.

A patent comes in the form of a document that gives you the exclusive rights to your creation. It usually contains a comprehensive description of your product or idea and how it is protected by the patent.

It's vital that this document is written in a way that adequately safeguards you, with no loopholes that someone can use to copy, sell or distribute your invention. You must therefore be very careful about how you fill in the application forms and give as much detail as possible when drafting the patent specifications. It may be worth hiring a patent attorney to help you with this.

What can be patented?

Section 25 of the Patent Act defines patentable inventions as:

1. Any new invention that involves an inventive step and which is capable of being used or applied in trade and industry or agriculture.

2. Anything which consists of a discovery, a scientific theory, a mathematical method, a scheme, rule or method for performing a mental act, playing a game or doing business;  or a program for a computer.

Before you patent

As much as you think your idea is the most inventive ever, you may be disappointed to find that someone else has already registered the idea or product. Do a search for existing patents, before you waste your time, effort and money. We have included various useful links in this category to help you.

Ensure that the invention is genuinely new and that it, or parts of it, does not infringe on anyone else's patent. To do the search, you will have to go through the Pretoria office of the Patents Registrar.

The Patent Journal is a document published by the Government Printers on a monthly basis, and it contains information on patents, trade marks, designs and copyrights that exist in South Africa. You can get it from Government Printers in Pretoria.

Steps to lodging a patent

You have a number of options when it comes to doing the paperwork.

1. If you have the basic idea, but are still working on the details of your patent, applying for a provisional patent will provide some protection and allows you up to 12 months to do the final patent. This may be the best option if you're worried that someone else may beat you to the punch. Later on, the provisional patent application will form the basis for a complete patent application, so you can see why it's important to have it drawn up properly and in great detail.


2. If you already have your final invention designed and ready for use, you will apply for a complete patent or even a Patent Co-operation Treat (PCT), which protects your patent in all the countries who belong to this treaty. If you make improvements to your invention after it has already been patented, you can apply for a patent addition or you may even have to apply for a completely new patent.

Once your invention has been patented, no one else is allowed to make, sell, import or distribute your product in any way shape or form. The term of a South African patent is 20 years, subject to annual renewal after the third year.

If you want to sell your invention commercially, it's very important to check that some aspects of the design are not patented by someone else, as this could lead to legal action.

It's worth repeating that if you have a viable invention that you would like to patent, employ the services of a Patent Attorney or Agents. They know all the ins and outs of this process and will draft your patent specifications in an internationally acceptable manner, ensuring that your creation is protected both in South Africa and abroad. Not doing this, can result in drawn out legal battles and you losing the rights to your own product.

For more detials on the patenting process or to download the necessary forms, log on to the CIPRO website. 

Source: CIPRO