How To Protect A Business Idea In South Africa
A business idea is challenging to defend. A “way of doing business” cannot be patented, according to the South African Patents Act. But there are steps you can do to guarantee that an idea stays yours.
Initial Steps in Patenting an Idea
Keep your Idea to yourself. A patent can only be issued for ideas that are novel, original, and practical, thus it’s crucial to keep your concept under wraps. Generally speaking, if your innovation satisfies these criteria, it ought to be eligible for protection under South African patent law; but, if you disclose your creation to the public or begin selling it, you are not permitted to file for protection. Patents have a time and date limit. There are 12 months left for you to Depending on your South African provisional patent application, submit a comprehensive patent application.
Find comparable inventions by searching. Due to South Africa’s “absolute” novelty criterion, your rights will be lost if your innovation is comparable to one already in existence anywhere in the globe. Before submitting a patent application, it is crucial to do a patent search.
Full patent application
In South Africa and in each nation where you seek protection, the second stage is to submit a complete patent application within 12 months of submitting a provisional patent application. Your rights are kept open for the first 12 months of the grace period, and the rights you are defending go back to the date your South African provisional patent application was filed. Patents are geographical rights, which entails that South African patents can only be enforced there. Each nation where you want to protect your concept requires that you submit a patent application.
National Phase Application for PCT
To safeguard intellectual property in all of its contracting states, a PCT National Phase entry offers a standardized process for submitting patent applications. An international application, often known as a PCT application, is a patent application submitted under the PCT. An international application is filed once in one language with a Receiving Office (RO). The next step is a search conducted by an international searching authority (ISA), which is followed by a written assessment of the invention’s patentability application. In essence, the PCT National Phase entry results in a standard national or regional patent application that may be approved or denied in each jurisdiction where protection is requested according on the prevailing law.
Can you be paid for an idea?
Yes, to answer briefly. You might get paid directly by businesses for your ideas, and some of them are always looking for fresh concepts for their operations or product lines. Start by researching your idea to determine whether it is, in fact, a fresh, original idea.
