Why is South Africa and Nigeria?
•Amazon is currently building a headquarters in Cape Town, South Africa.
• Combined GDP: $734b.
• Combined population: 265m.
• Largest economies in sub-Saharan Africa.
• Larger GDP and population than either ARIPO or OAPI.
• There is seemingly a huge opportunity in marketing Africa protection to the 99% of Chinese PCT patent applicants that do not currently file into Africa.
• No substantive examination of patents.
• Guaranteed patent grant within 6 months of filing if accelerated acceptance is requested.
• Amendments that do not increase the scope of the claims may be made any time after grant.
• Renewals for the entire term of the patent may be paid upfront.
• Simple filing process.
Nigerian patent overview
Patent exclusions
Apart from the general requirement that the invention must be novel (absolute / worldwide novelty), inventive and capable of industrial application, Nigerian patent law does not permit patents for:
- plant of animal varieties;
- essentially biological process for the production of plants or animals (other than microbiological processes and their products);
- inventions the publication or exploitation of which would be contrary to public order or morality.
Filing deadlines
●For convention applications, the Nigerian patent application must be filed within 12 months of the earliest priority date.
●For national phase patent application, Nigeria is 30 month deadline country.
Timelines
Nigerian patents typically take about 2 months for the patent certificate to be issued.
Term and renewals
Nigerian patents continue in force for 20 years from the date of filing (all 20 years for renewals can be paid upfront) and have 6 months grace period after expiration.
Publication
Publication of the Nigerian patent occurs after grant.
South African patent overview
Patent exclusions
Apart from the general requirement that the invention must be novel (absolute / worldwide novelty), inventive and capable of industrial application, South African patent law does not permit patents for:
●plant of animal varieties;
●essentially biological process for the production of plants or animals (other than microbiological processes and their products);
●methods of treatment;
●inventions the publication or exploitation of which would be contrary to public order or morality.
Filing deadlines
●For convention applications, the Nigerian patent application must be filed within 12 months of the earliest priority date.
●For national phase patent application, South Africa is 31 month deadline country with a further 3 month late filing extension available where required (i.e. effectively a 34 month deadline country).
Timelines
South African patents typically take about 12 to 14 months from the date of filing to become granted. However, if the patent application is lodged with a request for expedited acceptance (at no additional cost), the timeline from filing to acceptance can be reduced to 4 months. Following grant, it will take about 2 months for the patent certificate to be issued.
Term and renewals
South African patents continue in force for 20 years from the date of filing (all 20 years for renewals can be paid upfront) and have 6 months grace period after expiration.
Publication
Publication of the South African patent occurs on the grant of the patent.
- Note1: Please contact us at contact@gbaiplawyer.com for quotation.
- Note2: Many thanks to Anthony van Zantwijk & Paulo Lopes for their contribution to this article.