[Question] Patent validity

[Mox]

Hi Everyone,
Could anyone tell me if a patent which is registered in the US (in 1997) and with the World Intilectual Property Organisation (WIPO) has AUTOMATICALLY the same rights here in SA?

[AndyD]

As far as I know patents need to be individually registered in different countries but your best bet might be to look at at some of the SA patent lawyers websites. Adams and Adams have a library section on their site for a start. http://www.adamsadams.com/

[Mox]

Patent validity

Is there an online way of finding out if a patent registered originally in the US has been registered here or does one have to apply to CIPRO in long hand and wait accordingly?

[Justloadit]

Is there an online way of finding out if a patent registered originally in the US has been registered here or does one have to apply to CIPRO in long hand and wait accordingly?

And how is CIPRO supposed to find this patent in their manual system?

[Martinco]

Andy is correct.........you have to register individually in each country.

The only way of finding out is to either do a physical search yourself or have somebody do it for you. ( At a cost )

[Mox]

Thanks....I have just found out via various sites on Google that a registered Patent attracts Maintenance fees which if not paid timeously causes the patent to lapse. I have subsequently assertained that the patent I was looking to see if registered in SA has, although registered on USPTO and WIPO, in actual fact elapsed due to non payment of the maintenance fees. This means that the patented device is now open to manufacture by anyone......(I think) which in some way is good for me.

The background to this is that I have a device which I have submitted a provisional patent at CIPRO for but subsequently found a similar one registered in the US which was going to cause manufacturing limitations for me. I think now I can proceed without that problem.

Thanks again for the input.

I am very happy not to have to bother with a manual search through CIPRO......that could have been exasperating!!!

[Justloadit]

Mox,

A patent is a patent, and is valid for 16 years whether the upkeep payments are kept or not. There is nothing that stops the original owner to back pay the outstanding fees. I would seriously get hold of Spoor and Fischer, or Adams & Adams for advice, before spending money on your product.

[AnthonyVZ]

Patents are territorial. To quickly check whether a US patent has been filed in South Africa, go to Espacenet (http://gb.espacenet.com/search97cgi/...n/advanced.hts) and insert the US patent number. Go into this record and click FAMILY. This will show all other related patents. If a ZA patent appears, that is the corresponding South African patent. Alternatively, insert the inventor's name into the IdeaNav Patent Search Engine (http://www.ideanav.co.za/searching/patent-search-tool/), which searches all main patent databases simultaneously.