A step-by-step guide to filing a patent in South Africa. Always keep your inventions hidden – do not market or sell them until the patent application is submitted. Obtaining a patent is a two-step process that takes 12 months. The South African Patent Office will review the application to ensure that it has all of the required forms, specifications, and drawings. Important Notice: On application to the Court of the Commissioner of Patents, an invalid patent might be cancelled.
How to Apply for a Patent in South Africa
Contact an Experienced Patent Attorney: Patent attorneys are experts in identifying, protecting, prosecuting, and enforcing patents. This qualification entitles an attorney to register and file a patent in South Africa.
Determine the type of patent: invention patents, national phase PCT applications, or addition patents.
Prepare your application as follows: Your patent attorney will draft the specifications, claims, drawings, and abstract for your invention, which will be required when you file your application.
Make a preliminary application: To get the earliest possible date from which to claim your invention’s rights. Following the submission of the provisional patent, additional actions must be done within 12 months to complete the application.
Complete your application: Within 12 months of filing the provisional application in South Africa, and/or in each country where patent protection is sought.
In order to file a patent in South Africa, an invention must follow the following rules:
Requirements for invention
New
This “absolute” novelty criterion indicates that any disclosure anywhere in the globe prior to the filing date of a South African patent application will undermine the novelty of your invention, resulting in the loss of your patent rights.
Inventive
Similar inventions may have been made public by patent specifications or other literature. It must be assessed whether your invention is evident or not.
Inventions that have no commercial, industrial, or agricultural application are not eligible for patent protection under South African law.
South African patents are valid for 20 years, and annual renewal costs are due on the third anniversary of the filing date. South Africa is a signatory to the PCT and the Paris Convention (International treaty for the protection of Industrial Property). South African patents need full uniqueness, ingenuity, and utility.
How much does a patent in South Africa cost?
A provisional patent in South Africa costs only R19,950 (exclusive of VAT) when filed through a patent attorney. You can also file your own provisional patent application online for $199. You can file a PCT / worldwide patent application in 12 months for around R45,000.
In South Africa, how long does it take to obtain a patent?
Your provisional patent will be filed at the South African patent office once you have returned the signed form P3 and accepted the patent application. The procedure usually takes two weeks.
