Tanzania

General Information

  • Area: Approximately 947 000 km2
  • Population: 41.9 million
  • Capital: Dodoma (largest city Dar es Salaam)
  • Currency: Tanzanian Shilling
  • GDP:  $ 62.2 billion (2010)
  • Domain name extension: .tz
  • Languages: Swahili, English (official languages)
  • Exports: Raw cotton; cashew nuts; gold; coffee
  • Imports:  Industrial raw materials; construction materials; consumer goods; transport equipment; crude oil

International / Regional conventions:

  • Banjul Protocol (of ARIPO)
  • Berne Convention
  • Nice Agreement on Classification of Marks
  • Paris Convention
  • Patent Cooperation Treaty
  • WIPO Convention
  • WTO/TRIPS

Trade Mark Information

International and Regional Arrangements:

Madrid Agreement:      No

Paris Union:                Yes

Types of Trade Marks:

Goods and services

Series marks

Classification:

The International Classification of Goods and Services (Nice Classification) is applied.

Filing Requirements:

Particulars of Applicant (name, address and nationality)

Simply signed Power of Attorney

Representation of the mark

List of goods and / or services

Certified copy of the priority document

Duration:

The trade mark is registered 7 years from the filing date

Renewal:
Renewable every 10 years

Patent Information

International and Regional Arrangements:

Paris Convention:  Yes

PCT:  Yes (national phase deadline is 21 months for Chapter 1 applications and 31 months for Chapter 2 applications)

ARIPO:  Yes (see ARIPO requirements for designating Tanganyika (Tanzania) in an ARIPO application)

OAPI:  No

Filing Requirements:

Published PCT application or English specification, claims, abstract and drawings (required on day of filing)

Power of Attorney, simply signed (no deadline set)

Assignment of Invention, simply signed (no deadline set)

International Search Report and International Preliminary Report on Patentability (no deadline set)

Certified priority document with verified English translation if applicable (can be filed within 3 months)

Novelty
Absolute novelty is required
Patentability
Methods of medical treatment, surgery or diagnosis are not patentable
Excess Fees:
None
Examination:
As to form only, although the legislation makes provision for substantive examination for inventions in specified technical fields
Term of Patent:
10 years from the effective filing date, extendable for two further periods of 5 years each. The term of an ARIPO patent is 20 years from the effective filing date
Renewals:
Renewal fees are due annually from the first anniversary of the effective filing date