THE IMPORTANCE OF A DEMAND NOTICE IN A TRADEMARKS OPPOSITION IN TANZANIA
Mkama Magoti Kalebu
Meaning of DemandNotice
DEMANDNOTICE is a claim document that is sent to the other party (wrong side)containing detailed information about something that the wrong side should havedone correctly or has done incorrectly thus leading the other party (theaffected side) to be affected. It include a request asking the wrong side tocorrect the errors or pay compensation within a specified period of time.
Thisdocument also clearly shows what will happen in the event that the wrongedparty fails to fulfill what is requested.
Notice of Oppostion
Noticeof opposition is a statement of the grounds upon which the opponent objects tothe registration of a trade/service mark(s). In Tanzania, the law entitlesanyone within sixty days from the date of any advertisement in the Trade andService Marks Journal of an application for registration of trade or servicemarks to give notice of opposition tothe registration.
Manytimes people rush to file a notice of opposition without issuing a demandletter to the applicant.
Effects of Failure toIssue Demand Notice.
Notall people do a search before applying for a trademark registration. It alsohappens that the Registrar may accept such mark(s) by mistake thus interferingwith someone else's trademark rights. If this happens, it is certain that thistrademark will be opposed immediately after it is publication in the IndustrialProperty Journal.
Whereyou have sent a notice of opposition, the applicant may not respond/ contestafter realizing that he has actually interfered with someone else's rights.Remember here you will have incurred the cost of preparing the notice ofopposition and therefore you would like your costs to be refunded. So thisrequest for reimbursement will be submitted to the registrar.
The Registrar in deciding whether costs shouldbe awarded to the opponent shall consider whether proceedings might have beenavoided if reasonable notice had been given by the opponent to the applicantbefore the notice of opposition was lodged.
Demandletter is the essence of Fair and Equitable Procedures provided for underArticle 42 of the TRIPS Agreement which among other things provides that defendantsshall have the right to written notice which is timely and contains sufficientdetail, including the basis of the claims.
Foranything on the registration and protection of trademarks in Tanzania andAfrica, please do not hesitate to write to us, WhatsApp: +255 657577055 orwrite to us at
info@endowoadvocates.co.tz.
About the Author.
MkamaMagoti Kalebu is the Managing Partner at ENDO & Co. Advocates. He is an advocateof the High Court of Tanzania, Notary Public and Commissioner for Oaths. He is an Advocate of the High court ofZanzibar; Member of The Pan African Lawyers Union (PALU) and a Member of theEast Africa Law Society Intellectual Property Committee.
Mkamahold a Master of Intellectual Property from the University of Dar es Salaam. Heleads the Intellectual Property, Technology & Media, Telecommunications andData Protection Practices team at ENDO & Company. He handles bothcontentious and non-contentious matters in the areas of intellectual property("IP"), media, information technology ("IT"), dataprotection and telecommunications law, and has extensive experience working onregulatory, transactional, enforcement and advisory projects in these areas,counting among his clients’ multinational companies, listed corporations andgovernment regulators.
Visitour website: www.endowoadvocates.co.tz