The Sunday News
Judith Phiri, Sunday News Reporter
COMPANIES have been encouraged to take the lead in embracing intellectual property rights meant to protect domestic innovations by registering their trademarks.
African Regional Intellectual Property Organisation (Aripo) Head of Policy, Legal and International Co-operation Mr Pierre Runiga, who met Bulawayo businesses during a recent ZimTrade export seminar, said companies should consider registering their trademarks to protect their customers from receiving fake products.
“Registering your trademark protects your company and your customers from receiving fake products with a brand that resembles yours. If you trademark your brand, people know that they cannot abuse it because the registration allows you to flag infringement under the Trademarks Act and prevents others from adopting a similar trademark,” said Mr Runiga.
Mr Runiga said the registration of trademarks by companies could aid them with value addition when penetrating the export market through the use of trademarks and industrial designs entailed to them.
“Through registration, companies gain value addition and they can take a product that they may consider as homogeneous from that of a competitor and they can be able to provide potential customers with the product in a specific segment of the market, hence attracting and ensuring loyalty of customers even in the export market,” he said.
Mr Runiga said due to different capital, resources and finances, small and medium sized enterprises need to invest in IP, and develop brands that can compete at home and abroad by registering their trademarks within one of the three possible routes.
“There are three possible routes for protecting your rights considering the resources one has, so you can go the national route and register with respective IP offices such as Zimbabwe Intellectual Property Office (Zipo).
“Some might choose to go the regional route and register with Aripo and other regional organisations such as Organisation Africaine de la Propriété Intellectuelle (African Intellectual Property Organisation) (Oapi) and European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) among others.
“For the international route, companies would have to register with the World Intellectual Property Organisation (Wipo) Systems, Madrid system and the Hague System for their trademarks to be recognised worldwide,” said Mr Runiga.
Aripo is an inter-governmental organisation that facilitates cooperation among member states in intellectual property matters, with the objective of pooling financial and human resources, and seeking technological advancement for economic, social, technological, scientific and industrial development.
The organisation is mandated by its member states to grant patents and register trademarks, utility models, industrial designs and traditional knowledge on their behalf.
The member states of the organisation are Botswana, The Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, Somalia, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
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