Jurisdictional issues in intellectual property disputes in Zimbabwe

• Citation: (2019) IPLJ 99
• Published date: 12 February 2020
• Author: Musiza, C.
• Date: 12 February 2020
• Pages: 99-115

99

JURISDICTIONAL ISSUES IN

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

DISPUTES IN ZIMBABWE

 

ABST RACT

This art icle discusses the va rious approaches t o the resolution of intelle ctual proper ty



decides whether I P disputes are best resolved in gene ralist courts or special ised courts.

          

                   

established t he Intellectual Pro perty Tribunal as a s pecialised division of the H igh Court.

The Intellect ual Proper ty Tribunal Act (Chapte r 26:08) provides the jurisd iction of the

tribuna l. The challenge, however, is that th e statutes regul ating the differen t IP rights also

contain jur isdictional provisions. Th e situation can create chal lenges in the resolution of

IP disputes.

KEYWORDS: IP dis pute resolution; speciali sed IP courts; jur isdiction; Zimbabwe

  

Approaches to intellectu al property (I P) enforcement at the judicial level

vary. While some countr ies have specialised courts , others have IP related

disputes settled th rough the existing gener al courts.1 Even where specialised

courts exist, t he categories of IP rights over which the courts have jur isdiction



the case in the United K ingdom where the Patents Court adjud icates patent

disputes and the Copyr ight Tribunal determ ines licensing issues of collective

licensing bodies.2           

instance or appeal c ourts only, and the jurisd iction of the specialised court s

could also be civil only or both civil a nd criminal.

The IP regime is diverse a nd so are the types of disput es that arise. These

disputes can relate to the I P rights themselves (grants a nd registrations) and



The mechanism for enforcement of IPRs a re also varied and these i nclude

         

Unit Faculty of Law, Universit y of Cape Town. The author is funde d by the University of Cape

Tow n.

1 See the sur vey conducted by Inte rnational Bar A ssociation’s Intellect ual Proper ty and

Entertai nment Law Commit tee (IBA) ‘Internatio nal Survey of Speciali sed Intellectua l Property

Courts an d Tribunals’, available at http s://www.ibanet.org/L PD/IP_Comm_Tech_Section /

IP_Entrtnmnt_Law/Default.aspx (viewed on 19 Ju ne 2018).

2 Ibid at 3.

(2019) IPLJ 99

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civil proceedings,3 crimi nal proceedings,4 administrative actions, 5 and border

measures.6 The var iety of enforcement mechanisms ma kes the pool of IP

related disputes wide. IP is also c ross-cutting and ca n be implicated in other

 

of IP related disputes aris es the question on the resolution of these disputes,

whether specialised cou rts or general cour ts are better equ ipped. Even with

specialised cour ts there are issues of jurisdiction, which IP r ights a court can

adjudicate, whether there is exclusive jurisdict ion or limited jurisd iction,

whether the court ca n adjudicate both civil and criminal mat ters and whether

  

The Agreement on Trade-Related Asp ects of Intellectual Prope rty Rights

(TRIPS Agreement)7 as a minimum standard set ting agreement add resses

the issue of IP enforcement in Par t III s 1. It outlines the general obligations

with regard to effective actions ag ainst infri ngement, remedies and fair and

equitable procedures. It leaves it up to member st ates to decide the system

of enforcement and does not create an obligation to c reate a system distinct

from general law enforcement.8   

in how to comply with the mini mum standards and not a ssuming onerous

obligations in this regard. Zi mbabwe is a signatory to the TRI PS Agreement

and a number of internat ional treaties on intellect ual property.9 It is also

party to the A frican Regional Indust rial Propert y Organization (ARI PO)

administered treaties10 and has I P statutes that regulate the d ifferent IP rights.11

Zimbabwe has established a special ised IP tribunal as a division of the High

Court for the settleme nt of IP disputes. The Intellectu al Property Tribun al

established in ter ms of s 3 of the Intellectual Proper ty Tribunal Act12 is a

forum to deter mine IP matter s. The Judicial Laws Amendment Act13 in s

5(d) provides that the Intellec tual Propert y Tribunal constituted i n terms of

the Intellectual P roperty Tribunal Act is a spe cialised division of the High

Court for the pur poses of s 171(3) of the Constitution.14 Section 171(3) of the

3 Article 42(1) of the Agreeme nt on Trade-Related As pects of Intellec tual Proper ty (TRIP S

Agreement), An nex 1C of the Marrakesh Ag reement Establi shing the World Trade Organ ization,

15 Apr il 1994.

4 Article 61 of the TR IPS Agreement.

5 Article 49 of the T RIPS Agreement.

6 Article 51 of the TR IPS Agreement.

7 An nex 1C of the Marra kesh Agreement Est ablishing the World Trade O rganization , 15 April

1994.

8 Article 41(5) of the TRIPS Ag reement.

9 The TRIPS Ag reement entered i nto force in Zimbabwe on 5 Mar ch 1995.

10 Banjul Protoc ol on Marks, 19 November 1993 as last am ended on 25 November 2013 and Harare

Protocol on Paten ts and Industr ial Designs, 10 December 1982 as last am ended 25 November

2013.

11 Copyright and Neighb ouring Right s Act (Chapter 26:05), Patents Act (Cha pter 26:03),

Geographic al Indications Act (Cha pter 26:06), Trade Marks Act (Ch apter 26:04), Industr ial

Designs Act (Chapte r 26:02), Integrated Circ uit Layout Designs Act (Cha pter 26:07), Plant

Breeders Rig hts Act (Chapter 18:16).

12 Chapter 26:08.

13 Ease of Settling Co mmercial and Othe r Disputes Act 7 of 2017.

14 Amendment Ac t 20 of 2013.

100 South African Intellectual Property Law Journal (2019) 7

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