The main feature of South Africa's patent system is that South Africa's patents only refer to invention patents, and there is no system design for utility models, and the design is protected by special legislation. Moreover, South Africa adopts the patent application system first, not the examination system.
In patentability, service invention, third-party application for patent invalidation, patent compulsory license and so on. It absorbs the basic contents of the Paris Convention, taking into account both international and local characteristics. In South Africa, the longest patent protection period is 20 years from the date of filing or priority.
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South Africa is a member of many international agreements and conventions on intellectual property protection, and its intellectual property legal system includes patents, trademark laws and copyright laws.
South African patent law stipulates that, generally speaking, a patent can be regarded as an invention if it meets the three conditions of novelty, creativity and practicality. If a patent is creative and can be applied to commerce, industry or agriculture, it can be considered as a new invention.
The patent right in South Africa gives the patentee the right to prohibit others from manufacturing, using, using, disposing, providing, transferring or importing the patentee's invention. Infringement includes the use of patented inventions in various forms, including private use, and the production, sale, offer for sale or import of articles containing patented technology. If the patent owner wants to commercialize his invention, he must ensure that the patent rights of others are not infringed.