Practice Area 04
Industrial Design Protection
The aesthetic appearance of your product — its shape, configuration, pattern or ornamentation — can be a registered right that stops copycats before they reach market.
What We Do
- ▸Design registrability assessments and novelty searches
- ▸Filing industrial design applications via the ARIPO Harare Protocol designating Tanzania
- ▸Advisory on overlapping copyright and design protection strategies
- ▸Enforcement against copycat products and design infringers
- ▸Renewal management (5-year terms, up to 15 years total)
The Legal Framework
An industrial design shall be registrable if it is new — that is, if it has not been disclosed to the public anywhere in the world by publication in tangible form or by use or in any other way, prior to the filing date or priority date of the application.
Note that the Harare Protocol covers patents and industrial designs — and remains valid and effective in Tanzania. This is entirely separate from the ARIPO Banjul Protocol (trademarks), which has been ruled unenforceable in Tanzania by the Court of Appeal.
Key Facts
Term: 5 years, renewable to 15 years total
Route: ARIPO Harare Protocol (valid in TZ)
Covers: Shape, pattern, ornamentation, configuration
Dual Protection
Many product designs are protected simultaneously by industrial design registration and copyright. We advise on the most cost-effective combination.
Protect Your Product Design
Register Your Industrial Design
Stop copycats before they reach market. Register today.