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Renewal fees in South Africa must be paid by certain dates. In this section you will find a description of how these renewal due dates are calculated, both the very first renewal due date and all subsequent renewal due dates.
No annuities are due throughout the application process. The first annuity is paid on the first anniversary of the filing date after the grant in South Africa.
For example, if the grant date is 2022-01-20, and the filing date is 2018-03-31, then the first annuity must be paid by 2022-03-31.
After the first annuity has been paid, all subsequent annuities must be paid annually on the anniversary of the filing date. The due date should be the month and date corresponding to the filing date.
For example, if the filing date was on November 9, then all subsequent annuities will be due on November 9 each year.
In South Africa, there are other types of intellectual property besides patents. These include designs.
We are currently working on articles which will explain the rules for the renewal of these types of intellectual property. If you need any help renewing these and are looking for a cost-efficient solution, get in touch with us.
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There are no annuities due in South Africa before the patent is granted. Once the patent has been granted, annuities must be paid annually in accordance with the rules described above under the section Due Dates.
The renewal fees in South Africa can be settled at any given time. Technically, all annuities can be paid at the same time, meaning that you will only have to pay one, large sum of renewal fee.
Yes, it is possible to renew a South African patent after its renewal due date. If you fail to pay the renewal fee before the due date, a grace period of 6 months is given wherein the renewal fees can still be settled. When entering the grace period you will incur a surcharge fee to be settled along with the renewal fee. If you wish to maintain the patent, both the renewal fee and the surcharge fee will have to be settled.
For example, if a patent has a renewal due date of 2021-05-31 and the due date is missed, the patent will enter the grace period from 2021-06-01. After this point both the renewal fee and the surcharge fee will need to be settled by 2021-11-30. Failure to pay these fees before the surcharge due date will result in the patent lapsing.
Yes, you will need assistance from local representation to renew a patent in South Africa. It is a requirement to be an authorized representative in order to carry out the renewal of a patent in South Africa. Currently, PatentRenewal.com does not have the necessary authorization and we are therefore using a local representative to carry out the renewal process.
It may be possible for the patent owner to carry out the renewal themself, but unless you have experience with paying renewal fees in South Africa we will advise you to engage a local representative.
A patent will stay in force for 20 years in South Africa from the filing date if successfully renewed in accordance with the rules described above. If the patent is not renewed, it will lapse by the end of the grace period measured from the latest renewal due date.
