Classification

The International Classification of Goods and Services (Nice Classification) is applied. A single application may cover only one class.

Convention priority

Mozambique is a member of the Paris Convention. An applicant for a trade mark who has applied for the same trade mark in another Paris Convention member country, is entitled to a priority right. This accords them the same effective date as the first filed application, provided the Mozambique application is filed within six months of such earlier filing date.

Since Mozambique is also a member of the Madrid Agreement and Protocol, trade mark protection may be obtained via an international application under the Protocol, designating Mozambique. Although Mozambique is also a member of the Lusaka Agreement on ARIPO, it has not acceded to the Banjul Protocol on trade marks.

Examination/procedure

An application is initially examined as to formal requirements only. If formal compliance is established, the application is published in the Industrial Property Bulletin issued by the IPI. If no opposition is filed, the mark will undergo a substantive examination. A registration certificate will be issued if there are no grounds to refuse registration, or if any grounds that the Director General has raised have been cleared.

Opposition

The Code makes provision for opposition within 30 days from publication, which period may be extended only once for a maximum of 60 days upon application.

Duration and renewal

A trade mark registration is effective for an initial period of 10 years from the filing date of the application and is thereafter renewable for like periods of 10 years. Payment of renewal fees should take place within the six months preceding expiry of the 10 year period, but a grace period of six months from expiry is allowed for effecting renewal, upon payment of a surcharge.

The Code also has a general provision to the effect that the proprietor of an industrial property right who, through no fault of his own and despite all diligence, has been unable to meet a deadline which could affect the validity of the right, to have his right restored on application. The application must be submitted within two months of the cessation of the hindrance, and not more than one year after the missed deadline, and must set out fully the relevant reasons.

Patent protection

Patent protection is available via a national filing or an ARIPO or a PCT application designating Mozambique. Mozambique has implemented both the PCT and the Harare Protocol (which regulates patent and design filings in ARIPO) in its national laws, thereby giving enforceable rights to patents obtained via ARIPO and the PCT.

Foreign applicants must be represented by an accredited local agent.

Patentable subject matter

An invention means any idea that provides a practical solution to a particular technical problem; it may be a product or a process or both. An invention is patentable if it is new, involves an inventive activity, and is capable of industrial application.

The following are not patentable:

  • Scientific theories and mathematical methods
  • Discoveries aimed at making known or revealing something which already exists naturally, notwithstanding that it was previously unknown to man
  • Systems, plans, rules and methods for the performance of purely intellectual activities, playing games or economic activities
  • Computer program
  • Aesthetic creations and artistic or literary works
  • Presentation of information
  • Methods of surgical, therapeutic or diagnostic treatment applicable to the human body or animals (the products, substances or compositions used in any of such methods shall be patentable)
  • Substances, materials, mixtures, elements or products of any type resulting from atomic nuclear transformation, as well as the modification of their physical and chemical properties and the processes for obtaining or modifying them.

Novelty

An invention is new if it has no precedent in the state of the art. The state of the art comprises everything that has been published in Mozambique or in any other part of the world, orally, by use or by any other means, prior to the filing or the priority date.

Examination/procedure

Applications are subjected to formal examination. The Code also makes provision for the registry to request specialised persons or regional or international institutions to conduct special examination or provide technical assistance. However, in practice, applications are subjected to formal examination only, after which they are published in the Journal for purposes of opposition.

Duration and maintenance

The term of a patent is twenty years. Annual renewal fees are payable and the first and second annuities must be paid on filing. The Code states that annuities can only be paid within six months of the expiry of the last payment.

There has been some uncertainty over the base date for calculation of annuities for PCT cases in Mozambique. Until such time as an official notification is issued by the registry, it is recommended that the base date for PCT national phase applications in Mozambique is considered to be the priority date and not the international filing date. A six month grace period is available for the payment of renewal fees.

Design protection

Design protection is available by a national filing or via an ARIPO application designating Mozambique. Mozambique has implemented the Harare Protocol (which regulates patent and design filings in ARIPO) in its national laws, thereby giving effective protection to ARIPO designs in Mozambique.

Registrable subject matter

An industrial design means any combination of lines or colours or three-dimensional form, which gives a new and original appearance to a product or part of a product and which may serve as a model for the industrial manufacture thereof or the manufacture by artisans.

Novelty

A design is new if it has not been disclosed by means of publication in a tangible form, nor used in any other way, prior to the date of filing or the priority date, if any, of the application for registration.

A design is not new if:

  • It has been registered before (even if the registration is invalid or has lapsed)
  • If the design has been described in a publication in such a way as to make it capable of being known and worked by experts in the field
  • If the design has been used in a well-known manner or has become part of the public domain.

Examination/procedure

Examination is conducted by the Registrar to ensure compliance with the formal requirements. If satisfied that the conditions for registration have been met, the Registrar shall publish the applications. It is possible to request that publication be delayed.

The publication of the application shall provisionally confer on the applicant all the rights which he would enjoy on registration of the design.

Duration and maintenance

The initial term of the design registration is five years, which is extendible for further terms, upon payment of renewal fees, for a maximum period of 25 years.

Annual renewal fees are payable and the first and second renewal fees must be paid on filing. The Code states that renewal fees can only be paid within six months of the expiry of the last payment. A six month grace period is available.

ARIPO designs are, however, only valid for 10 years and are subject to payment of annual maintenance fees. ARIPO also has a six month grace period for payment of renewal fees.

Currently, no legislative provision for plant breeders’ rights or other sui generis protection for plants is available in Mozambique.

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