Trademark Licenses & Assignments

Licenses allowed in Tanzania in form of registered user. A person other than the proprietor of a registered trade or service mark may be registered as a registered user in respect of all or any of the goods or services for which it is registered. The recordal of registered user is mandatory. The use of a trade or service mark by its registered user in relation to goods or services with which he is connected in the course of trade or business and in respect of which the trade or services marked remains registered in compliance with any conditions or restrictions is permitted use. 

A license contract is invalid in the absence stipulations between the registered proprietor of the trade or service mark and the proposed registered user ensuring effective control by the registered proprietor of the quality of the goods or services of the proposed registered user. In the absence of any provision to the contrary in the license contract, the grant of a license does not prevent the registered proprietor from granting further licences to third parties or from using the trade or service mark himself. The grant of an exclusive licence will prevent the registered proprietor from granting further licences to third parties and from using the trade or service mark himself. In the absence of any provision to the contrary in the licence contract, the registered user will be entitled to use the trade or service mark during the whole duration of registration, including renewals, in the entire country, and in respect of all the goods or services for which the trade or service mark is registered, subject to any conditions or limitations entered in the register. 

It is possible to make a license that is limited to a certain part of the Tanzanian territory. A licence cannot be assigned to third parties and the registered user is not allowed to grant sub-licences. 

Assignment of a trademark is possible under Tanzanian and Zanzibar trademark legislation. A mark may be assigned in whole or in part (i.e., for some of the goods or services for which it is registered). Recordal of an assignment is mandatory. A person entitled to a mark through assignment or transmission must make application to the Trademark Office in the prescribed manner to record his title. Requirements for the recordal of an assignment and transmission are: assignment document (simple copy is sufficient) or a confirmatory deed of assignment, signed by both the assignor and the assignee; power of attorney; and payment of official fee. If the application is based on a priority claim, evidence of assignment of a priority claim is required. 

On receipt of application, the Trademark Office will cause the particulars of the assignment or transmission to be entered in the register and where the application is in respect of a pending trade or service mark, the particulars of the assignment or transmission will be provisionally recorded and, upon registration of the trade or service mark, will be entered in the register. Assignments and transmission of pending trade or service marks or of registered trade or service marks have no effect against third parties until their particulars are entered in the register. 

An assignment or transmission will, however, be invalid if the assignment or transmission is likely to deceive or cause confusion, particularly in regard to the nature, origin, manufacturing process, characteristics or suitability for their purpose, of the goods or services in relation to which the trade or service mark is intended to be used or is being used.