The preparation, filing, prosecution and registration of international trade marks.
Madrid Trade Marks
Zimbabwe acceded to the Madrid Protocol on 11 December 2014. The Protocol entered into force with effect from 11 March 2017. In an anomalous development, the implementing regulations for the operationalization of the Protocol only entered into force on 13 March 2017 through the Trade Marks (Madrid Protocol) Regulations, 2017 through Statutory Instrument 39 of 2017.
However, since these developments, there has been a strikingly disproportionate use of the Madrid trade mark system by foreign and Zimbabwean applicants as reflected in official filing statistics. By the end of March 2019, Zimbabwe had been designated in over 3 000 international applications and yet only two applications originated from Zimbabwe. This trend is mainly attributable to the country’s prevailing prohibitive economic circumstances which make the transmittal of filing fees from Zimbabwe almost impossible for various reasons.
Operational issues of the whole Madrid system aside, we offer the following services:
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We also assist with filing responses to official actions that are raised by the Zimbabwe Intellectual Property Office, ZIPO.
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Renewal of international marks
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Recordal of proprietor changes
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General advisory work pertaining to operationalization and effect of Madrid trade marks within the framework of Zimbabwean law.