Detect and Protect, Attorney speaks about identifying Intellectual Property

25/08/2011

A lunch time talk entitled “Detect and Protect” was co-ordinated by Mary-Ann Chetty the Innovation Support Manager of Innovation Support and Technology Transfer at Madibaz on Thursday 25 August. Mr Erik van der Vyver from Von Seidels Patent Attorneys presented a talk about the early identification of protectable intellectual property (IP), particularly in a research environment, and the necessary steps to ensure the long term commercial success of innovations and inventions.

During the presentation the major facets of IP including patents, trademarks, registered designs and copyright, was discussed. Emphasis was placed on how each of these can be identified and on how to determine whether or not the identified IP can, and should, be protected. The presentation also provided some useful tools to assess the novelty of inventions and designs as well as the availability of potential trademarks.

The presentation was quite stimulating to the audience and was followed by a questions and answers session.. For further information on talks delivered and additional resources for IP searches, please contact Mary-Ann Chetty. The NMMU will be hosting Von Seidels Patent Attorneys again in October 2011.

Mary-Ann and Erik

Erik van der Vyver from Von Seidels Patent Attorneys and Mary-Ann Chetty the Innovation Support Manager of Innovation Support and Technology Transfer