Botswana - Apply for Intellectual Property or Patent

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Procedure

Apply In-Person

1. The application for Intellectual Property or Patent shall be made to theCompanies and Intellectual Property Authority (CIPA) office.CIPA Website
2. Applicants will be required to collect and complete the Request for Grant of a Patent or Utility Model Certificate-Form 1, obtainable at the CIPA registrar office or download it via the CIPA website CIPA Application Forms or directly download it using this link, Request for Grant of a Patent or Utility Model Certificate-Form 1
3. The request form should be completed in triplets and should be attached to the application letter and three copies of items shown in the checklist, as mentioned in section (IX) of the application form, should be submitted to the CIPA registrar office for consideration. Any omission of the required information and documents will render the application process incomplete.

   Note that each item listed in the checklist should be written on a separate sheet and attached to the application form.

4. Upon receipt of the application, the CIPA registrar will check for discrepancies or ineligibility in the application documents. If a discrepancy that cannot be immediately corrected exists in any of the documents, the application and all the submitted documents will be returned to the applicant and should not be re-submitted until the discrepancy has been rectified.
5. If the registrar, is satisfied that all the requirements have been met for the application for the license, the application is registered for processing and consideration.
6. Applicants will be required to pay an application fee i.e.,BWP150 for Individuals and small companies and BWP300 for Large Companies. Fees are either payable by depositing it into the CIPA account, or cash at the CIPA cashier. Applicants are issued with a CIPA payment slip and an acknowledgment slip as proof of submission of the application and for inquiry referencing if the need arises.
7. The application file will then be sent to the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) in Harare, Zimbabwe for a Substantive examination to determine if the patent may be registered. Note that this can take a period of 18-24 months.
8. At the end of the substantive examination, ARIPO will forward its assessment report to CIPA.
9. Upon receiving the report, the CIPA registrar will notify the applicant of the decision (Approval, Deferral, or Rejection) for the outcome of the application in writing.
10. If approved, the applicant should respond to the approval letter, by writing a letter to the CIPA, accepting to pay thegrant and publication registration fees i.e., BWP150 for Individuals and small companies and BWP300 for Large Companies.
11. After payment of the grant and publication registration fees, the applicant will be issued with a certificate by the CIPA registrar, upon presenting their identification document, CIPA payment slip, and the approval letter to be validated by the registrar.
    

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Required Documents

• Properly completed Request for Grant of a Patent or Utility Model Certificate-Form 1
• Request letter address to the Registrar Industrial Property requesting to register a patent.
• Description of the patent sheet (s).
• A claim of the patent sheet (s).
• Abstract of the patent sheet (s).
• Drawings of the patent sheet (s).
• Signed power of attorney
• A statement justifying the applicant’s right
• A statement that certain disclosures be disregarded
• Priority document/s (certified copy of earlier application where applicable)
• Proof of payment of the applicable fees.
• Any other supporting documentation.
  

Office Locations & Contacts

Companies and Intellectual Property Authority (CIPA)
Address: Plot 54358, Prime Plaza, CBD, Gaborone, Botswana
Telephone: +267 367 3700
Fax: +267 318 8130
Email: [email protected]
PLEASE CONTACT CIPA ON THE FOLLOWING NUMBERS:
(+267) 3673797/ 3673758/ 3673783/ 3673748/ 3673700
CIPA Website

Eligibility

• Inventors who have made Inventions are eligible to apply.
• An Invention is a novel, non-obvious, and industrially applicable solution to a specific problem in a field of technology.
  

Examples: Any new or improved product or process in the following main sections of technology:

• • Human Necessities: Agriculture, foodstuff, personal or domestic articles, health, and amusement.
  • Performing operations and transporting: separating, mixing, shaping, printing, and transporting.
  • Chemistry and metallurgy.
  • Textiles and paper.
  • Fixed Construction: Building, earthmoving mining.
  • Mechanical engineering, lighting, heating, weapons, blasting including engines, pumps, and engineering in general
  • Physics: Instruments and nucleonic.
  • Electricity etc.
    

Fees

CIPA FeesSchedule

Validity

• A certificate of competency shall be valid for twenty (20) years, and it shall remain valid for that period of time unless cancelled or suspended, or revoked by the authority; however, the certificate shall be subjected to an annual fee as mentioned in the CIPA fees schedule.
• Upon expiring, the certificate is subjected to renewal.
  

Documents to Use

Request for Grant of a Patent or Utility Model Certificate-Form 1

Sample Documents

Please attach sample completed documents that would help other people.

Processing Time

The time frame for processing the application is within 18-24 months.

Related Videos

Videos explaining the procedure or to fill the applications.
Attach videos using the following tag <&video type='website'>video ID|width|height<&/video&> from external websites.
Please remove the '&' inside the tags during implementation.
Website = allocine, blip, dailymotion, facebook, gametrailers, googlevideo, html5, metacafe, myspace, revver,
sevenload, viddler, vimeo, youku, youtube
width = 560, height = 340, Video ID = Can be obtained from the URL of webpage where the video is displayed.
e.gIn the following url 'http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0US7oR_t3M' Video ID is 'Y0US7oR_t3M'.

Instructions

The following are not regarded as inventions and are excluded from patent protection: -

• Discoveries or findings that are products or processes of nature where mankind has not participated in their creation (including, plants and microorganisms).
• Scientific and mathematical methods and theories.
• Schemes e.g. investment, methods of bookkeeping, or insurance schemes.
• Business methods e.g. credit or stock methods
• Rules for playing games (The game's equipment may be patentable).
• Methods for treatment of human or animal body by surgery or therapy, as well as diagnostic methods; except products, in particular substances or compositions or apparatus for use in, any of those methods or;
• Public Health-related methods of use or uses of any molecule or other substances whatsoever used for the prevention or treatment of any disease which the Minister responsible for matters relating to health may designate as a serious health hazard or as a life-threatening disease.
• The mere presentation of information.
• Non Functional details of shape, configuration, pattern, or ornamentation.
  

Required Information

• Applicant’s or Representative’s File Reference:
• Type of application applying for (patent or utility model certificate)
• Title of invention
• Applicant’s details/Agent’s details/Inventor’s details
• Divisional application
• Date of priority
• Request Declaration claiming priority
• Descriptions
• Claim(s) (Statement justifying the right to patent/utility model certificate)
• Abstract statement
• Declaration by the applicant (Signature/date of application)
  

Need for the Document

• Registering a Patent gives the owner the exclusive rights to prevent others from manufacturing, using, or selling the protected invention in a given country.
• A patent is a legally enforceable right granted by the government in return for disclosure of the invention to the public.
• Patent protection is territorial meaning every country grants patents that are only applicable and enforceable in that country. In other words, patents rights can only be enforced in a country where the patent is granted and in force.
  

Information which might help

• Companies and Intellectual Property Authority (CIPA) is responsible for examining and granting patents in Botswana. CIPA operates under the Industrial Property Act 2010.
• However, it is also possible to obtain a patent through the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO), which is a regional intergovernmental organization, based in Harare Zimbabwe, and which is mandated to grant patents on behalf of its member states.
• Currently, ARIPO has a membership of 16 countries in Africa.
• Invention means a solution to a specific problem in the field of technology. It is a new and useful art (whether producing a physical effect or not), process, the machine, manufacture or composition of matter which is not obvious, or any new and useful improvement thereof which is not obvious, capable of being used or applied in trade or industry and includes an alleged invention. An invention may be or may relate to, a product, or a process.
  

What can be patented?

• In general, any device, substance, method, or process can be patented. For a patent to be granted, the invention must satisfy three requirements, that is the invention must;
  • Be new, which means that the invention has not been publicly disclosed anywhere in the world;
  • Involve an inventive step, that is the invention must not be obvious to someone with knowledge and experience in the technological field of the invention; and
  • Be industrially applicable, in that the invention must be capable of being used in industry
• There are certain things that are excluded from patent protection. These include methods and schemes of doing business, scientific and mathematical formulas, and methods of treatment of animals and humans, and artistic creations.
  

Other uses of the Document/Certificate

Please explain what are other uses for obtaining this document/certificate.
e.g. Birth Certificate can be used as proof of identity.

External Links

• CIPA INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY ACT, 2010
  
• CIPA Patent Application Process
  

Others

More information which might help people.