This year, on the 1st and 2nd of May, the Worldwide Symposium on Geographical Indications 2025 was held in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. The event was organized by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), with the Zimbabwe Intellectual Property Office (ZIPO) serving as the host.
As evidenced by hosting this event, Zimbabwe has been committed to active engagement in matters related to Geographical Indications (GIs). With international attention focused on Zimbabwe, the natural question arose: what is the current status of GI protection in the country? There has been legislation for the protection of GIs since the enactment of the Geographical Indications Act in 2001. Although this Act established a formal system allowing registration, it was not until much later in 2016 that government promulgated the GIs regulations that provided the legal framework for processing applications, including application requirements, examination, publication, opposition, and eventual registration.
Despite the existence of this legal framework, however, no GI applications have been filed in Zimbabwe which one can only surmise may be due to a number of factors. To start with, ZIPO currently lacks adequate operational capacity to process such applications. Therefore, capacity building; specifically, setting up training ZIPO staff to examine GI applications and adopting an appropriate electronic system to support application processing are necessary. ZIPO has indicated that several programs are already underway to bridge this gap. It is expected that the office will be ready and better equipped to receive and process GI applications by 2027. While government may set up the system for registration, there is still work which needs to be done to encourage the use of the system, pointing out the advantages of it. The Symposium recently held was an important step to afford ZIPO the opportunity to make connections with others around the world who are dedicated to effective GIs systems of protection thereby learning best practices.
For detailed information on the requirements for GI protection in Zimbabwe, please feel free to contact our firm.
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