A new clothing line needs a distinctive “Brand”, which can be protected by registering trademarks, designs and patents. But, clothing brands do not start and stop at the NAME / LOGO. Iptica has identified 15 top clothes branding tips. Here are a few of them: Pocket stitching – All top clothing lines create and register … Read more
Apr 28th, 2019It is difficult to get one’s head around which software apps are patentable. Each country applies its own test. And, the tests themselves are rather arcane. Europe requires a “technical effect that goes beyond the normal technical interaction between the hardware and software”. South Korea largely mirrors the European test. And, China, South Africa and … Read more
Feb 15th, 2019Pay South African patent renewals for only R700 ($50) using the IdeaNav online patent renewal system. How to migrate South African patent renewals to IdeaNav South African patentees are not required to pay renewals through the patent firm that filed their patent. You are free to: upload your South African patents to the IdeaNav renewal … Read more
Dec 15th, 2018Jess is a clothing designer and owner of the clothing line JLT. Sure, many of her clothes have been copied over the past 20 years, but she takes simple, affordable steps to protect her clothing designs. Here are her top 5 tips: Tip #1 – Protect your clothing Brand Definitely trademark register your clothing Brand … Read more
Dec 15th, 2018What did Kutumane and Jwabi actually patent? With effect from 31 July 2015, Kutumane and Jwabi patented a “Method of and system for activating or deactivating a financial transaction card” (ZA2016/05259). The patented method focussed on the following steps: receiving a request from a user to activate / deactivate a card; prompting the user to … Read more
Dec 14th, 2018You can pay South Korean patent renewals online using the IdeaNav Korean patent renewal system. How to pay South Korean patent annuity online: Register and upload your South Korean patent on the IdeaNav Korean patent renewal system. Add the Korean patent renewal to your cart and checkout, paying by credit card. The system will send … Read more
Nov 28th, 2018Many of your favourite foods were once patented: Space Candy patented the method of making its popping candy; Jelly Beans and Eskimo Pie ice cream patented their food recipes; and Rolo and LifeSavers patented its food packaging (and then pretended that the sweet was patented). See Iptica for hundreds of food recipe patent examples. Most … Read more
Nov 21st, 2018South Africa will increase its patent and design renewal fees on 1 July 2019. For companies, the official renewal fee for both patents and designs will increase 10x. What to do Save by paying all your future patent and design renewals upfront before 24 June 2019 … at today’s rate. How to pay renewals to … Read more
Nov 21st, 2018#1 Top patent website – Licensing, Tax & Exchange Controls The S&Z website provides useful information regarding: intellectual property commercialisation (incl. patent and trademark licensing / sale); relevant South African tax provisions; relevant South African exchange control provisions; how to negotiate a patent licence; intellectual property royalty rates; and how to value patents and trademarks. … Read more
Nov 19th, 2018To patent an app, first get a Patent Pending Number. This gives you 1 year to grow (with breathing space). Uber kept its app patent “pending” for 9 years. It was much more valuable during this “patent pending” period than it is now that it’s patented. During the Patent Pending period, competitors didn’t know what … Read more
Nov 18th, 2018On 27 December 2018, Judge Dennis Davis (the head of the now defunct Tax Committee) again prioritised intellectual property transfer pricing – apparently, transfer pricing contraventions are costing the fiscus R7 billion per year. But how does SARS / Treasury fix this? It’s time to peak out of the box – beyond: employ more tax … Read more
Oct 27th, 2018Register SA trademark online To protect your business name in South Africa you should register a South African trademark – patents and copyright are not relevant. To file a trademark for a business name online is simple, takes 5 minutes and costs only US$80: conduct a free identical trademark search – see our trademark search … Read more
Oct 26th, 2018Registering your clothing label / brand is easy and incredibly affordable – a South African trademark application can be filed online for only US$199. The more difficult issue is deciding what to protect. Clothing has so many branding elements over and above the name and logo: True Religion protects its pocket stitching pattern; D&G registers … Read more
Oct 25th, 2018VBS MUTUAL BANK knew on 11 August 2018 that they were toast! On that day VBS let its most important asset – the original VBS trademark registration – LAPSE due to non-payment of the 2018 renewal fee. The trademark renewal would only have cost R960 through the IdeaNav Online Trademark Renewal System. Clearly there are … Read more
Oct 14th, 2018Everyone’s savaging Woolworths for copying Ubuntu Baba. Poor Woolworths! And, I’m not being facetious. I really mean: poor Woolworths. They only “copied” a “copy”. Is Ubuntu Baba new? No. Is it itself a “copy” of someone else’s infant carrier? Most likely. Is this bad? Not if making the copy is permitted – everyone copies someone; … Read more
Oct 11th, 2018