Intellectual property refers to creations of the mind; inventions; literary and artistic works; and symbols, names and images used in commerce.

Intellectual property is divided into the following two branches:

· IndustrialProperty ; this comprises of patents for inventions, trade marks,industrial designs and geographical indications.

· Copyright; this entails  literary works suchas plays, novels and poems, films, music, artistic works such as paintings,photographs and sculptures and architectural designs. Copyright carries with itrights of those performing artists during performance, broadcasters in televisionand radio programs as well as phonogram producers in their recordings.

From the two branches,several types of Intellectual Property can be indicated as follows,

· Copyright;this generally refers to the rights that a creator owns through his artisticand literary work. Hence copyright reigns over works such as music, books,paintings, sculpture and films, computer programs, databases, maps, technicaldrawings as and adverts.

 IPRIGHTS

Intellectual PropertyRights are listed under Article 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rightswhich provides for the right benefit from the protection of moral and materialinterests resulting from authorship of scientific, literary or artisticproductions. Thus these rights ensures that creators  and owners of IP work   benefits proportionally.

THE NEED TO PROTECT IP

· Protectionof IP fosters economic growth, creation of industries and eventually new jobs.

· Withlegal protection of IP, commitment among innovators and creators is boosted andhence further innovation.

· It isadvantageous to culture and technology, as it capacitates a human mind a safeforum to create.

· Patent; this is an exclusive right that compliments an invention. It bestows in the handsof the patent owner the rights to decide how the invention is to be used by therest of the world and hence protect it from imitation by unauthorized persons.In exchange for this right, the patent owner makes technical information aboutthe invention publicly available in the published patent document.

· Trademarks; a trademark is a mark used to distinguish the goods or services of oneenterprise from the other.

· Industrialdesigns; this constitutes the ornamental or aesthetic aspect of an article.A design may consist of three dimensional features, such as the shape orsurface of an article, or two-dimensional features , such as patters, lines orcolor.

For the introductorypurpose, IP in Tanzania is governed by various legislations, local and international.The essence is to properly accommodate this internationally dealt subject oncelocal legislations lacks provisions.

The followings are basic IPlaws;

· TheConstitution of the United Republic of Tanzania

· TheConstitution of Zanzibar

· Union ofTanganyika and Zanzibar Act

Listed below are the MAINIP laws;

· TheZanzibar Industrial Property Act No.4 of 2008

· TheZanzibar Copyright Act, 2003

 · (Plant Breeders‘ Rights) Act, 2002

· The Traditional and Alternative Medicine Act No.23 of 2002

· Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act, 1999

· The Patents (Registration) Act, 1995

· The Trade and Service Marks Act, 1986

· Merchandise Marks Act, 1963 (No. 20 of 1963)

The above Acts are applied simultaneously with thefollowing implementing rules and regulation;

· The Copyright and Neigghbouring Rights (Production ofSound and Audiovisual Recordings) Regulations, 2006

· The Copyright and Neighbouring Rights (Registration ofMember and Their Works) Regulation, 2005

· The Trade and Service Marks Regulations, 2000

Tanzania has also ractified variousinternational and regional treaties within which IP shelters. To mention a few,some of these treties are;

· Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary andArtistic Works (July 25, 1994)

· Patent Cooperation Treaty (September 14,1999)

· Harare Protocal on Patents and Industrial Designs Withinthee Framework of the African Regional Industrial Property Organization(APIRO), (September1, 1999)

· Treaty for the Establishment of the Eayt AfricanCommunity (July 7, 2000)

INDUSTRIAL DESIGN INTANZANIA

Sinceefforts are still in progress to manage Tanzania to have its own local systemfor registration of design, she has endorsed protocol on patent and industrialdesign.

Tanzania Patents Act No 1, 1987 as amended by ActsNos.13 and 18 of 1991, has provisions which recognize designs registered in theUnited Kingdom.  Also, designs can beprotected in Tanzania either through Africa Regional Industrial Propertyorganization (ARIPO) registration or by registration in the United Kingdom.

The Patents Act, is to the effect that the rights and privileges of proprietors  of designs registered in the United Kingdom are extended to Tanzania during the term ofdesign registration. Designs registered by ARIPO designation Tanzania are protected initially for ten years from the date of filing.

Design protection can be renewed at APIRO for further periods and the maximum duration of protection may be 25 years from the date ofapplication.

The detailedinformation concerning Intellectual Property , it’s history and the laws in Tanzania, registration of various IP rights, and actions against theinfringement of the same will be dealt with in our future issues.

For more contact:  sunday@rive.co.tz