To date, no regulationhas been enacted to facilitate customs recordal of intellectual property rights(such as trade/service marks, patents, industrial designs, copyrights andrelated rights) despite having a law that restricts the use of marks and tradedescription in relation to merchandise (The Merchandise Marks Act of 1963).

The current method is toregister a trademark with the Registrar of Trade and Service Marks andthereafter collaborate with The Fair Competition Commission (FCC) which ischarged with protecting the intellectual property rights in Tanzania.

If counterfeit goods arediscovered, the proprietor or his/her agent is responsible for notifying theFCC immediately of the presence of such products/goods. Once the FCC receivescomplainant, they will liaise with other institutions such as the Customsdepartment, the police and even national security agency to conduct aninvestigation and ban the pirated products immediately.

If the client has alreadyregistered his trademark, we can enter into an agreement with him to make awatch service that will include checking all products entering the market andnew trademark requested to be registered.