Top 10 tips on how to reduce your South African patent cost

Tip 1 – conduct a search

The best way to reduce your patent cost is not to spend money on an invention that cannot be protected.

Conducting a worldwide patent search is easy and free. If the “new physical feature you have added” already exists anywhere else in the world, it cannot be patented.

Tip 2 – use NDAs to develop your invention before patenting it

You only really need to start the patent process when you have a product ready to sell. Before then, collaborate with engineers, designers and manufacturers using confidentiality agreements.

We suggest using the free NDA available at Iptica, which you can easily customise to suit your needs.

Tip 3 – decide whether you are using the patent for marketing, deterrence or protection

If you intend to use the patent for marketing and deterrence, consider only filing provisional patents – see the insightful tips at Iptica Patent Pending Number.

Tip 4 – draft your own provisional patent document

Provisional patent documents are easy to write. As long as you have fully described the invention, you’ve done the job. Use our provisional patent template, which will guide you on how best to describe your invention.

Tip 5 – first file a provisional patent online

Filing a provisional patent is easy and costs only $49. Thereafter, you can disclose your invention, sell the product and get market feedback. You will develop your invention further during the 12-month provisional patent period and these improvements can be included in the complete patent you should file by the end of the 12-month period.

We suggest using the GlobalIPCo system for filing provisional patents online.

Tip 6 – take photos of your product and file a design

Design registrations complement patents. Whereas, the patent protects your product’s novel combination of physical features, the design registration protects its shape.

Unlike patents, which can get expensive, designs are cheap, easy and quick to register.

We suggest that you take photos of your product and easily register the design using the GlobalIPCo system. Then, extend the design to Europe, covering all EU countries for 25 years.

Tip 7 – choose a suitable patent firm to draft your complete patent

Up to this point, you are able to do everything yourself, without engaging a patent attorney. However, if your provisional patent is expiring and you believe that the invention is worth the further patent investment, you will need to engage a patent attorney. You can expect to pay:

• about R30,000 to secure a South African complete patent only; or
• about R80,000 per foreign country to secure patent rights (with an intervening PCT patent step).

When drafting the complete patent, try not to exceed 15 claims or 10 pages in length.

See our top 10 South African patent firms.

S&Z has been the largest filer of South African patents 2022-2024. However, they now focus on patent filings and no longer provide patent drafting services.

Tip 8 – if you have filed a PCT patent, file your South African patent through an online system

At the end of the PCT phase, you can significantly reduce your South African patent cost by taking back control of your South African patent and filing it yourself online.

Tip 9 – renew patents yourself

You will save a significant amount over the life of your patent if you control renewals yourself. Our online renewal system manages patent renewals worldwide. For example, renewal of a South African patent should cost about R800.

Also, consider pre-paying all 20 years of South African patent renewals upfront, which reduces the lifetime cost by up to 80%.

Tip 10 – don’t throw good money after bad

Keep evaluating your market, your sales, competing product and patent search and examination reports. If the PCT search / examination report shows that you will only be able to secure a “thin” veneer of patent protection, consider shifting from a “protection” mindset to a “deterrence / marketing” mindset.

For marketing / deterrence, cheaper patenting options are available, such as:

• a German utility model;
• a South African national phase patent;
• a Nigerian national phase patent; or
• a SANi patent, which combines South Africa and Nigeria.

Also see: How to reduce your South African trademark cost.