Tanzania closes key trademark law gaps: what brand owners need to know

Tanzania has moved to close its African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) enforceability gap and modernise its trademark system.

In September 2025, Tanzania’s Court of Appeal held that ARIPO trademark registrations designating mainland Tanzania are not enforceable, because provision for ARIPO trademarks under the Banjul Protocol on Marks had not been incorporated into the Trade and Service Marks Act, 1986. Within a month of the Court of Appeal’s decision, at the request of Tanzania’s trademarks registry, ARIPO declared mainland Tanzania ineligible for designation.

Tanzania’s response came in just over a year. The Written Laws (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act, No. 6 of 2026 took effect from October 2 2026, amending the Trade and Service Marks Act, 1986 by including a new Section 28A making provision for ARIPO trademarks under the Banjul Protocol.

The amendment now gives domestic effect to ARIPO trademark registrations designating Tanzania and refers back to September 1 1999, when the Banjul Protocol entered into force in respect of Tanzania. The stated aim is to make these rights enforceable.

However, some uncertainty remains. In particular, the legislation does not expressly address how recognition of historical ARIPO registrations will interact with national rights that accrued before the amendments took effect this month. How competing rights will be treated remains to be seen.

ARIPO is now working through the operational next steps to lift the suspension. In response to Spoor & Fisher’s enquiry this week, it has confirmed that it is consulting with the Tanzanian trademarks registry and will issue an official notice once those discussions conclude. Until that notice is issued, brand owners should treat Tanzania as unavailable for designation.

Beyond ARIPO, the amendments also introduce a number of wider changes to Tanzania’s trademark framework.

The previous requirement for a trade or service mark to be a “visible sign” has been removed. A trade or service mark is now defined as “any sign or combination of signs capable of distinguishing goods or services of one undertaking from those of other undertakings”. A sign is now defined to include three-dimensional marks, letters, words, colours, and combinations of colours, numerals, get-ups, and holograms.

The law now expressly provides for collective and certification marks. This gives associations, industry bodies, and certification organisations a route to protecting marks that indicate membership, standards, or other certified characteristics.

The amendments introduce a clearer statutory framework for well-known marks.

To qualify, a mark must be well known in Tanzania and be entitled to protection under the Paris Convention or TRIPS Agreement.

When deciding whether a mark is well known, the registrar will consider all relevant circumstances. These include:

• The level of recognition of the mark;

• The duration and geographical extent of its use and promotion;

• Relevant registrations and applications;

• The record of successful enforcement; and

• The value associated with the mark.

The amendments also provide that a mark should not be registered where it, or an essential part of it, is likely to impair, interfere with, or take unfair advantage of the distinctive character of a well-known mark.

For brand owners, this provides an additional layer of protection. However, well-known status still depends on evidence and, where Tanzania is commercially important, registration remains the clearest and most reliable route to protection.

Where the registrar considers that exceptional circumstances exist, an application may now be advertised before acceptance.

What constitutes exceptional circumstances is not defined, so it remains to be seen how the provision will operate in practice. The stated aim is to give the public an opportunity to comment before an application is accepted.

For rights holders, this may mean that potentially conflicting applications come to light earlier in the registration process.

Now is a good time to review trademark protection in mainland Tanzania.

The broader definition of a trademark may allow you to protect signs that were previously difficult to register. Associations and certification bodies should consider whether the new provisions for collective and certification marks are relevant to them.

Existing ARIPO registrations designating Tanzania should form part of that review. Until ARIPO issues its official notice, the national filing route remains the available route for securing a new trademark registration in mainland Tanzania.

Zanzibar should not be overlooked. It operates a separate trademark registration system and protection there should continue to be secured separately.