The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is still finalising its intellectual property (IP) policy before submitting it to Cabinet for approval.

DTI International Trade and Economic Development division director Marumo Nkomo said at a recent colloquium that the IP policy aimed to create a balance between owner and user interests, while stimulating innovation.

The DTI creates and implements IP policy and initiatives to accelerate innovation, technology commercialisation and a knowledge-based economy.

“Technology commercialisation is critical in supporting industrialisation and diversifying our economy through the creation of new industries,” Trade and Industry Minister Dr Rob Davies said at the colloquium, which covered key areas of IP development and protection, acquisition, exploitation and management.

He stated that IP that remained on the shelf, without making its way into the market, had zero value for small companies and the South African economy, and that the DTI, in collaboration with its implementation arm, the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC), therefore, provided platforms for the IP and technology commercialisation industry to exchange ideas and experiences in addressing the challenges inhibiting successful commercialisation.

On average, South Africa approves 9 000 patent applications and 2 000 design applications a year.

Of those, 10% comprise local applications (first filings), about 75% are national phase or foreign applications (second filings that are initially filed in other countries) and about 15% are patent applications originating from South Africa but are filed abroad.

“South Africa is moving away from just providing IP legislation (a depository system where patent applications are only checked against certain formality requirements) and is focusing more on substantial examination (examining against criteria for patentability) and thereby strengthening government’s role in stimulating innovation,” CIPC innovation and creativity promotion executive manager Nomonde Maimela said.

Maimela pointed out that the CIPC’s introduction of substantive search and examination in 2015 had enhanced the quality of patents granted in terms of validity in the market and compliance with all the criteria for patentability, including whether it was a novel concept, inventive, capable of application in trade and whether it provided a technical solution or unique aesthetic (or functional) design.

Additionally, IP rights for probable innovation consider whether the concept has a receptive market, proper environment dynamics (the right skills and people involved to realise the idea) and technical feasibility, as well as whether it has a competitive advantage.

Moreover, Maimela highlighted, South Africa was among five countries in the world to have implemented an investor assistance programme, where patent lawyers in South Africa were willing to take on small businesses and assist them with patent applications.