Patents
What is a Patent
A patent is an exclusive right granted for an invention, which is a product or a process that provides a new way of doing something, or offers a new technical solution to a problem.
The patent provides protection for the owner, which gives him/her the right to exclude others from making, using, exercising, disposing of the invention, offering to dispose, or importing the invention. The protection is granted for a limited period of 20 years.
What is PCT?
As the name (Patent Cooperation Treaty) suggests, the PCT is an agreement for international co-operation in the field of patents. More specifically, it is a treaty that provides for rationalisation and co-operation with regard to the filing, searching and examination of patent applications.
Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT)
With the traditional patent system, if patent protection is sought in other countries, individual patent applications need to be made for each respective country. This involves the preparation and filing of several patent applications, translation costs and the services of patent attorneys in these countries – all resulting in considerable costs.
Under the traditional system, the patent office in each country (where protection is sought) must carry out formal examination of the application and search procedures resulting in a duplication of effort.
In order to overcome some of these problems the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) came into effect in 1978. This treaty came into effect in South Africa in March 1999. There are at present 148 countries that are part of this international treaty.