So you had a great idea and you created something magical but you didn’t register any intellectual property protection. Is this the end of your bright, sparkly future? Not necessarily.
Four pieces of legislation govern the protection of intellectual property in South Africa. Three of them require you to follow a formal registration process. But you have certain unregistered protection in the case of copyright protection which vests in the author of the work and common law protection for an unregistered trade mark. Go here if you want to read more detail on this.
So why register intellectual property protection? Well, number one, patents and designs have no protection unless a registration has been filed and approved. Number two, in the case of trade mark infringement you have dates of registration and copies of the name and the mark in question on file which help the proof process.
It is expensive to protect your intellectual property, and sometimes speed to market is more important for your brand or product in gaining market dominance than having a lengthy product protection strategy in place, but if you have spent a lot of time, money and creative juice in developing your product gaining a ten to fifteen year market exclusivity might be just the reward you need for your late and sleepless nights.
For more detailed information on intellectual property protection visit the website of the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission’s website at www.cipc.co.za.
Chappies paper moment: Did you know that when a mark has the symbol ™ next to it, it doesn’t mean there is a registered trademark. When there is an ® it means the mark has been registered. Look at the Coca Cola mark and you will see this.