Webinar Explores the Importance of Protecting Intellectual Property

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The University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), through its Research Office and partnership with Spoor and Fisher, hosted a webinar on Intellectual Property (IP).

Targeted at staff and students, the webinar aimed to explore the various forms of IP rights and how they can be protected. 

Mr Khutšo Ramontja, Student Entrepreneurship manager, in his opening address, explored the importance of protecting IP, citing the Bafana Bafana and Vuvuzela trademark cases that garnered widespread public interest.

The speaker for the event, UKZN alumnus Dr Thandanani Cwele, a patent attorney, said that innovation can be transformed into intellectual property through IP law. He defined IP law as the protection of intellectual products that can be commercially exploited.

Cwele explained the various forms of IP, including patents, which protect ideas in industrially realisable form, such as a novel product, process, or use of product; trademarks known as badges of origin which serve to identify a product and distinguish it from its competitors; copyright, which protects artistic or literary works; registered designs that protect the outward appearance of industrially produced articles; and know-how usually referred to as a trade secret, which is confidential, such as a recipe.

He noted that a patent is an agreement between the inventor and the government that grants the inventor exclusive rights to the invention for 20 years. He cited examples such as a device, machine, composition of matter, method or process. Cwele said, “In short, anything that solves a problem in a new and non-obvious manner can be protected by using a patent.”

Cwele explained that patents are territorial and restricted to specific countries. He noted that there is no such thing as a ‘worldwide patent’, but individuals can apply for patents in multiple countries simultaneously through the International or European routes, resulting in a bundle of patents.

Discussing the synergy of publications and patents within Higher Education Institutions, he emphasised the importance of avoiding disclosure of inventions before filing for patent applications to secure the appropriate rights. Cwele noted that patents are important for creating commercial value and gaining a competitive advantage, especially when seeking investment in research projects.

He reviewed how trademarks existed in the form of business and brand names, slogans, logos, numbers, letters and signatures. 

Cwele said that copyright protection is automatic. It prevents others from reproducing or adapting one’s work, but it does not protect against misappropriation. He listed various protected works, including musical works, sound recordings, films, broadcasts, published editions and computer programmes.

Cwele examined the two types of registered designs: aesthetic which provides 15 years of protection and focuses on the shape, configuration and ornamentation; and functionality which provides 10 years of protection and relates to the article’s utilitarian aspects. “Design rights offer the proprietor the option of excluding others from making, using, selling, and importing the invention into South Africa,” he said.

Cwele cited Bathu shoes as a success story of a South African brand securing its IP through design protection. 

In conclusion, he stated that IP grants the owner the right to exclude others from use, but not the right to exploit the invention if it infringes on the rights of others. Cwele added that IP can be used to commercialise, licence, and foster collaborations and joint ventures.

A Q&A session was held, where topics discussed included: the costs associated with IP applications, the revocation or withdrawal of IP protection, artificial intelligence and IP, and the differences between International and European Route patent applications.

For more information, contact Dr Thandanani Cwele or info@spoor.com 

Words: Hlengiwe Khwela

Photograph: Supplied