UCT Inventors Rewarded

The Innovation Fund, in a drive to stimulate the filing of patent applications at research institutions has offered a Patent Incentive Fund to reward inventors for each granted South African patent.

15 UCT inventors received something extra in their Christmas stockings in December following the award of R 232,000 by the Innovation Fund, Patent Incentive Fund to them for patents granted during 2006. RCIPS apply annually on behalf of the UCT inventors and individuals received between R8,000 and R20,000 depending on the number of inventors associated with each patent. Click here to read more about the DST's Patent Incentive Fund.

At an institutional level, UCT also received just over R 280,000 from the Innovation Fund's Patent Support Fund, which seeks to support tertiary institutions in their IP protection endeavors. The amount represents a refund of 50% of the expenses incurred by UCT for the protection of our Intellectual Property, provided that certain conditions have been met.