Companies and Intellectual Property Registration Office (CIPRO)
Press Release
CIPRO lends a hand where local business ideas need protection
Gladys Mantsho is finally making good money from the bottles of foam bath and shampoos she and her children produce by hand from an indigenous plant. Junius Tsipa now knows how the copyright works on a book he has written and what to do when someone infringes on that right. They are just two of the many rural South Africans who have become fully-fledged entrepreneurs with the help of the Companies and Intellectual Property Registration Office (CIPRO).
As South Africans we are often praised for the way that we find solutions to problems through innovative thinking. Our nation has clocked up a number of ‘world firsts’, has a couple of Pulitzer prize-winning authors and has contributed globally to science and technology - think Sasol’s coal-to-fuel innovation or Dr Chris Barnard’s first successful heart transplant.
It seems that the Afrikaans saying “ ‘n Boer maak ‘n plan” really holds true. But what if “your plan” or innovation is so good that others want to do it too? What if you can actually make money from it? Where do you go and how do you make sure that a copycat does not pip you to the post?
“This is where CIPRO comes in,” says Mr. Keith W. Sendwe, CIPRO’s CEO. “As a member of the dti group we aim to assist all those potential entrepreneurs with good business ideas to turn that idea into a viable business proposition and hopefully a creator of job opportunities.”
According to Mr. Sendwe South Africans, especially in rural areas, are brimming with ideas that could earn themselves and their families a decent income. “Unfortunately, most of them do not know how to go about turning that idea into a business while retaining the right to the uniqueness of the idea. This is important because when you protect your
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right to be the only one to make money from your idea, you prevent others who have more money or opportunity to use your idea, and make money from it, before you are able to do so yourself.”
Both Gladys and Junius reside in rural Limpopo. They approached one of CIPRO’s partners, the Limpopo Business Support Agency (LIBSA), for assistance with their unique problems.
Copyright for Junius’ literary works
Junius had written a unique book entitled “You can make a big difference” and needed advice on how he could protect his literary copyright. A CIPRO delegation that included an expert on intellectual property and a trainer visited the LIBSA Limpopo branch two weeks ago and advised Junius on all aspects of copyright.
“We explained to him the conditions of copyright protection, how the process to obtain an isbn-code from the SA national library works, what the litigation process entails in case of infringement on his copyright works, possible ways of granting other users the right to use or reproduce his works and the statutory limitations and exceptions to copyright works,” says Mr. Sendwe. “At the same time we trained officials at this branch on the subject of intellectual property so that they would be able to assist others with the same query as Junius.”
Registering the “Glad Sensations Cosmetics” trademark
Gladys’ manually produced range of foam baths and shampoos contain herbal nutrients that are beneficial to human hair and skin. She uses raw materials from an indigenous plant to produce the gel that forms the base of her unique cosmetic product range. However, to further her customer base and to ensure that her unique range could be distinguished from other products in the market, “Glad Sensations Cosmetics” needed a trademark.
“Gladys applied for assistance with the LIBSA Aganang branch. We could assist her on registering the trademark. She has since signed a lucrative
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deal with a hotel chain to supply them with her products for their patrons,” says Mr. Sendwe.
He continues: “There are still a whole host of people just like Gladys and Junius who have applied to LIBSA for similar assistance. We are convinced that there are even more out there in our communities with excellent business ideas but with no clue as to where they could go to register a business or their idea. We want them to know that CIPRO, through our partners such as LIBSA, will provide them with this assistance.”
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