The Court of the Commissioner of Patents recently handed down a decision which brings long awaited clarity and relief to the patent profession and applicants in South Africa. The issue before the court was whether an applicant for a patent may request an extension of...
Patents
New Regulations published for Agricultural Remedies in South Africa
On 25 August 2023, the Minister for Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) in South Africa issued amended regulations to the Fertilizer, Farm Feeds, Agricultural Remedies and Stock Remedies Act, 1947. These regulations will replace the previous...
Curbing Enthusiasm for Junk Patents in South Africa
According to WIPO’s international patent filing statistics, the number of patent applications filed in South Africa in 2022 jumped by 63.9% compared to 2021. The South African Patent Office records indicate that this growth was mostly attributed to foreign applicants,...
Fashion never goes out of style – then why not protect it?
Fashion trends come and go, but for designers who take their creative work seriously, protecting the intellectual property (IP) rights of a design ensures long-lasting value. Entrepreneurs in the fashion industry need to be made more aware of the benefits of obtaining...
Change in Assignment Requirements in South Africa
Recently, the Registrar of the South African Patent Office published a practice note updating the formality requirements for assignments in patent applications. Previously, where an International PCT application claims priority from an earlier filed application in a...
Partial Patent Waiver for COVID-19 vaccines
Participating countries attending the 12th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva, Switzerland reached an agreement on 17 June 2022 to partially waive intellectual property restrictions on the manufacture and production of COVID-19...
Patent Law for Beginners
Once you have conceived or developed an invention, it is time to patent that invention. However, the patenting process can be time consuming and complicated. It is advisable to consult and hire a patent attorney to assist you with the patent registration process. Even...
Patent Search: A Brief Explanation
It is advisable for an inventor to acquire a patent when creating or designing a new invention. By obtaining a patent, an inventor can be sure that their invention is protected against others making use of, selling, manufacturing, advertising, or importing the...
Budding Breeders – Cannabis and Intellectual Property Rights
In 2018 the Constitutional Court of South Africa ruled that personal and medical marijuana use in South Africa was deemed to be legal, with the Court directing the South African government to put in place the necessary legal framework to give effect to the Court’s...
COSMETIC ON THE FACE OF IT? PATENTABILITY OF METHODS OF COSMETIC TREATMENT PRACTICED ON THE HUMAN BODY IN SOUTH
South Africa, just like many other countries, has a set of legal provisions pertaining to subject matter for which patent protection may not be obtained. For example, and relevant for present purposes, in terms of section 25(11) of the South African Patents Act (“the...
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