S&Z becomes the top filer of South African patents
In September 2021, S&Z became the largest filer of South African patents, capturing more than 27% of the South African complete patent market. November 2021 saw S&Z increase its filings to +500 patents per month. The growth in online filings continued into 2022, with S&Z ending 2022 having filed 35% of South African patents.
S&Z growth in patent filings is largely due to its partnership with GlobalIPCo – a developer of online filing systems.
| Firm | SA complete patents filed during September 2021 |
| Sibanda & Zantwijk | 259 |
| Firm A | 215 |
| Firm B | 151 |
| Firm C | 64 |
| Firm D | 48 |
| Firm E | 41 |
| Firm F | 32 |
| Firm G | 26 |
| Firm H | 21 |
| Firm I | 16 |
| Firm J | 14 |
| Firm K | 12 |
GlobalIPCo System
S&Z is the exclusive South African agent of GlobalIPCo – a provider of IP filing and management services. The GlobalIPCo system enables S&Z to manage large volumes of patents with low administrative overheads, thereby significantly reducing the cost of South African patents.
Expansion into other countries
In 2022, the GlobalIPCo system added Nigerian patents to its online system and launched the SANi combination patent – combining Nigeria and South Africa, a territory with a GDP higher than ARIPO and OAPI combined.
In addition to reducing the cost of patents, the GlobalIPCo system also offers Vicennial Renewals – pre-payment of patent renewals for the entire 20-year period. Vicennial Renwals reduce the lifetime cost of Africa patents by over 80%.
Efficiency
The GlobalIPCo system not only reduces patent costs, it also reduces the time to courier the registered patent certificate by improving efficiencies throughout the patenting process.
New market
Instead of growing by taking market share from other South African patent law firms, S&Z’s growth is based on new filings from new markets. As a result, S&Z’s patent filings have increased the total number of South African patent applications by more than 25%.