WIPO TRAINING OF TRAINERS
PROGRAM ON EFFECTIVE INTELLECTUAL
PROPERTY ASSET MANAGEMENT BY
SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED
ENTERPRISES (SMES) AUGUST 22 TO26,2011,
BLUE PEARL DAR ES SALAAM
IP LAW AND ADMINISTRATION IN TANZANIA
Presented by: Leonila Kishebuka
Deputy Registrar,
Business Registrations and Licensing Agency [BRELA],
OUTILINE:

A. INTRODUCTION

B. NATIONAL LEGAL FRAMEWORK;
i) TRADE AND SERVICE MARKS
ii) PATENTS
iii) INDUSTRIAL DESIGN
iv) COPYRIGHT AND NEIGHBOURING
RIGHTS
v) OTHER LEGISLATION

C. LEGAL IMPLEMENTATION
i) CHALLENGES
OUTILINE (CONT…):
D. EXTERNAL LINKS
i) INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS
ii) REGIONAL
 E. SOME ON GOING INITIATIVES
 F. CONCLUSION

A. INTRODUCTION

Genesis of IP in Tanzania
IP like other laws during colonial time
was imported through a reception clause
 Evolution of IP and the set up of a legal
framework. Through revisions, global influence
 What is IP?
Are rights derived from protection of one’s Intellectual
creations, creation of the mind reduced into tangible
things.

APPLICATION OF THE IP LAW
IP is not a union matter save for some aspects
which are of international nature.
 Zanzibar has its own legal framework.

WHAT CONSTITUTE IP

Intellectual Property has two subsets:
i) Industrial Property; administered by BRELA
& FCC (Fair Competition Commission)
ii) Copyright and Neighboring rights;
administered by COSOTA

Other IP laws like Protection of New Plant
Varieties (Plant Breeders' Rights) this is under
the Ministry of Agriculture, Cooperative and
Food Security.
B. NATIONAL LEGAL FRAMEWORK;




Based on three major legislation
administered by BRELA & COSOTA:
Trade and Service Marks,
Patents,
Copyright and Neighboring rights.
TRADE/SERVICE MARKS




Governed by Cap 326 [R.E. 2002]
It set out guidelines on the administration of
T/S Marks
The Act is useful especially for SMEs to enable
them distinguish their products in the market.
Set out a dispute settling mechanism in the
office of the Registrar from which appeals lies
to the high court
PATENTS
Governed by Cap 217 [R.E. 2002]
 Deals with inventions
 Inventors by applying for a patent are given
protection which enables them exploit their
inventions uninterrupted.
 Time set to 20 years
 Technology to be disclosed in exchange of
protection

COPYRIGHTS
Governed by Cap 218 [R.E. 2002]
 Protects literary and artistic works, expressions
of folklore and related/neighboring rights
 Duration of protection is life time and 50 years
after death for a natural person and 50 yrs for
a legal person from the date of publication.

NATIONAL LEGAL FRAMEWORK(CONT..)

Other laws; industrial designs, The Protection of New Plant
Varieties (Plant Breeders' Rights), The Fair Competition
Commission and The Merchandise Marks
Also forming part of the legal framework are
the IP enforcing agencies: judiciary, customs
Fair Competition Tribunal and Police
 Individual IP Institutional arrangements: UDSM,
Open University, SUA etc.

IP ENFORCEMENT
Enforcement mechanism is handled by courts,
BRELA and FCC:
 High
Court on Industrial Property cases as a court of
first instance in infringement and passing off cases.
Deals also with referral and appeal cases from
BRELA; the Registrar & FCC.
 District
Courts deals with Copyright cases.
CHALLENGES:




Lack of adequate knowledge on Intellectual Property
Lack of Intellectual Property policy
Inadequate capacity of enforcing agencies
Lack of inter institutional IP coordination and
information exchange
D. EXTERNAL LINKS
i) Tanzania’s membership to International conventions:






Paris Convention for the protection of Industrial Property.
World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic
Works
PCT-Patent Cooperation Treaty
World Trade Organization
Agreement on Trade-Related Aspect of
Intellectual Property Rights[TRIPs]
D. EXTERNAL LINKS (CONT..)
ii)Regional Organizations
o
Tanzania is also a member to The Africa Regional Intellectual Property
Organization [ARIPO] and is a signatory to various Protocols administered by
ARIPO:
o
The Harare Protocol on Patents and Industrial Designs
o
The Banjul Protocol on Trade and Service Marks
BENEFITS OF EXTERNAL LINKS
Single application covering member countries
of your choice
 Cost and time saving
 Avoidance of unnecessary competition
 Control of your IP in a large area

E. SOME ON GOING INITIATIVES

i)National IP strategy/plan
- It is a plan to stimulate IP innovation, fully utilization of
IP, legally protect IPRs and scientifically administrate IP,
implementing the National Intellectual Property Strategy and
to energetically improve IPR creation, utilization
(commercialization),
Initiatives
by BRELA/WIPO
- organized a workshop aimed at introducing the concept
of IP Strategy, articulating the importance of IP strategy,
helping in identifying the IP assets with the aim of enabling the
country to draft a National IP Strategy/Plan.
SOME ON GOING INITIATIVES (CONT..)
Review
of Industrial Property laws:
The aim is to have a single legislation with
various chapters of current laws under one roof
and will also be TRIPS compliant.
The new Industrial property law will introduce
the protection of Geographical Indication.
Branding strategy: This strategy will enable
owners of IP assets to benefit by getting the real
value of their products

CONCLUSION
•
•
•
•
o
o
o
IP strengthening in Tanzania requires:
collective cooperation of all institutions dealing with
Intellectual Property.
Those institutions are Intellectual Property Offices, Customs,
Fair Competition Commission, Plant Breeder’s Rights Office,
R&D Institutions including the Universities, Judiciary, Police
and their respective Ministries as policy makers.
End results:
motivation in innovativeness and creativity,
will also protect the well being of consumers.
technical and economical advancement of country
END
THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION