On 10 November 2023, Adams & Adams Partner and Chairperson of the Africa Strategy Committee, Mr Simon Brown and the Africa Practice Manager, Mr Menzi Maboyi, travelled to Lusaka, Zambia to meet with the newly appointed Registrar and Chief Executive Officer of the Patents and Companies Registration Agency (PACRA) and his team.   Our team was […]

With effect of 1st August 2023, Mr. Benson Mpalo was appointed as the Registrar and Chief Executive Officer of the Board of the Patents and Companies Registration Agency (“PACRA”) in Zambia. Mr. Mpalo joins PACRA as a legal practitioner and Advocate of the Superior Courts of Zambia with excess of fifteen (15) years of experience […]

Patents & Companies Registration Agency (PACRA) issued a public notice of 23 August 2022, announcing that effective from 1 September 2022, the Zambian Registry will only issue electronic trade mark registration certificates.

The Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry recently requested stakeholder comments on the draft 2022 Zambian Trade Marks Bill. The Bill proposes a number of significant amendments, including provision for service marks, multi-class applications, and an amendment of the registration and renewal terms to 10-year periods. The Bill also expressly recognises collective marks and geographical […]

The Patents and Companies Registration Agency of Zambia (PACRA) has made its trade mark data of more than 60 000 trade marks available online on the TMview search tool from 13 June 2022. TMview now contains data from 77 participating offices and provides information and access to more than 106,5 million trade marks. TMview was […]

The enforceability of International Registrations in Zambia- Trade Marks Rights Not Getting ‘Beta’? In a recent decision of the Registrar of Trade Marks in Zambia in the matter of Sigma-Tau Industrie Farmaceutiche Riunite (“the Opponent”) and Amina Limited (“the Applicant”), the Registrar held that international registrations (“IRs”) under the Madrid Protocol designating Zambia are valid […]

In a recent decision by the Registrar of Trade Marks in Zambia, it was confirmed that “bad faith” can be relied upon as a ground of opposition against a trade mark application. The matter related to an opposition by Anhui Liangliang Electronic Technology Co Limited (“the Opponent”) against an application to register the mark TORCH […]

On 25 December 2018, the Zambian Industrial Property Office issued a legal notice regarding the application of the Property Transfer Tax (Amendment) Act, 2017 on trade marks, patents and Industrial designs. The Amendment Act amends certain provisions of the Property Transfer Tax Act, Chapter 340 (Principal Act). The definition of “property” has been amended to […]