First Step Marketing

There are several ways in which you may need to protect your interests by ensuring the exclusivity of your product.

PATENTS

In some instances, where you’ve invented a unique gadget or perhaps a tool, you should consider patenting your product. A patent would protect you from unfair and/or unlawful competition.

A patent can be granted for any new invention, but it must be a tangible product and not something abstract like a concept, formula, theory or, strangely enough, even a computer program. Generally, patents are used to protect specific products or manufacturing processess used in the industrial or agricultural fields.

A patent gives the holder the sole right to produce and market the invention or product and, therefore, receive all the profits from its sale. The scope of the invention is defined in the patent specification in your application which needs to be drawn up by a patent agent, usually a lawyer specialising in this field.

Once granted, a patent lasts for 20 years provided that the renewal fees, which come into force after its third year, are paid regularly.

To obtain a patent, you should consult your attorney, who will instruct specialists with the additional technical training and qualifications to draw up patent applications.

The application consists of several forms and a detailed set of drawings which have to be submitted to the Patent Office in Pretoria. The cost of submitting an application is in the region of R1 000 depending on the complexity of the drawings and the process generally takes some time to complete, so consider very carefully the relative need for it before launching yourself into an application.

Patent costs, or a proportion of them, are tax deductible, so if you do patent your product, remember to include the costs on your income tax returns.

TRADEMARKS

You may decide to use a trademark — displayed on your product or used in your trade — to distinguish your products from those of a competitor.

If so, it must be registered under the terms of the Trade Marks Act, with the Trade Marks Office in Pretoria. Once registered, only you will be entitled to use it. Approximate costs are R250 initially, and if you wish to continue using the trademark, it must be renewed after 10 years.

COPYRIGHT

If your business deals in the written word, works of art, films, videos or recorded works, you may be interested in the need for retaining copyright, which prohibits the copying of any material covered by copyright.

This is, of course, a fairly difficult area to define, but definitions are provided by the Copyright Act.

For more information on patents, trademarks and copyrights, you should consult your attorney who will advise you if you need to apply for any of these protections, and how to go about it.

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This entry was posted on Monday, January 18th, 2010 at 2:30 am and is filed under Intellectual Property, Tax. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.