South Africa’s Patent Office recently introduced Practice Note 21 of 2023.
The Practice Note – now effective – requires evidence, as per section 15(1)(a) of the Patents Act, for requests for expedited acceptance of a patent application. This applies to requests made within the first 12 months of the national phase entry date for Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) national phase applications or within the first 18 months from the date of application for all other applications.
To bolster this, the Notice outlines the types of evidence that can support such a request. This includes a copy of a corresponding Written Opinion of the International Searching Authority (WO-ISA) or International Preliminary Report on Patentability (IPRP) for PCT national phase patent applications. The report must consider at least one claim of the PCT application to be both novel and inventive.
Alternatively, applicants can provide a copy of a search and/or examination report of an equivalent foreign patent application, where an examining patent office has considered at least one claim of the equivalent foreign application to be novel and inventive. Lastly, an affidavit from at least one applicant, properly authenticated as per Rule 63 of the Uniform Rules of Court, providing reasons for expedited acceptance can be submitted.
Download a copy of the Practice Note here.
By Stefaans Gerber | Senior Associate | Patent Agent
