CIPRO signs deal to protect SA businesses

Local businesses are afforded international protection

The Companies and Intellectual Property Registration Office (CIPRO) is currently making a push at growing awareness surrounding the protection of intellectual property (IP) and among small and medium businesses.

To date there are more than 24 356 registered co-operatives on CIPRO’s database and 150 773 new Close Corporations (CC’s) have been registered for the period January to July 2009. “The economic crunch is making business difficult but registering a CC or a co-operative may be your answer to economic success,” says Keith W Sendwe, CEO of CIPRO.

“CIPRO has assisted countless entrepreneurs in protecting their IP and turning their ideas into viable business opportunities. We protect all four domains of IP, namely patents, designs, trademarks and copyright,” explains Sendwe.

“We have signed an agreement with the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) according to which all South African patents will be scanned and posted onto the WIPO website under the ‘National Collections’ link. This will form part of the PatentScope search facility on the WIPO site: www.wipo.int ,” explains Sendwe.

This means South African patents will no longer be confined to South African borders. “We are convinced that anybody who logs onto the WIPO database will be impressed by the creative, viable patents that have been registered with CIPRO over the last few years. These patents may even inspire other people’s business ideas which will in turn be registered on the CIPRO database.”