Patent registration in Zambia. Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa. Zambia contains abundant natural resources, including minerals, wildlife, forestry, freshwater and arable land. In 2010, the World Bank named Zambia one of the world’s fastest economically reformed countries. The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) is headquartered in Lusaka. Accordingly, many businesses want to enter this market and one of the most important preparations a business needs to take before expanding to this country is to learn the procedure of patent registration in Zambia.
Patent in Zambia
According to Zambia law, a patent in this country is a grant of a property right given by the Government to an inventor. With a patent, the inventor, or the patentee will have the right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, selling the invention in a country, or importing the invention into a country, along with other rights to protect their best interests.
To be patentable in Zambia, an invention must satisfy the requirement of new, inventive, and industrially applicable.
In addition, an invention that is patentable can also be an improvement on existing items or methods.
On the other hand, the subjects that are unpatentable in Zambia are:
- Discoveries, laws of nature, and mathematical methods;
- Aesthetic designs;
- Systems, rules, and methods for the performance of mental labor, games or management, computer programs;
- Presentation of data and abstract ideas.
Necessary documents for patent registration in Zambia
The necessary documents for patent registration in Zambia include:
- The request to grant a patent (patent application);
- Detailed information on the applicant(s) including the applicant’s names, addresses, etc.;
- A description of the invention;
- A signed and stamped power of attorney by the applicant(s);
- A copy of the amendments (if any);
- Priority documents (if any).
- Other required documents.
The procedure for patent registration in Zambia
To obtain a patent in Zambia, the applicant needs to file a patent application to the IP Office of Zambia – Patents and Companies Registration Agency.
Before filing, the applicant needs to make sure that the subject of the patent application is not expressly excluded from patentability nor is it a non-patentable subject.
The examiners at the IP Office of Zambia will conduct examinations to check if the patent application is registrable or not.
If there are no errors, the patent will be published publicly in the Official Gazette in which any third parties may view the detail of the application.
As this exposure will help the society of Zambia improve and develop via sharing knowledge with all the people, the inventors, and applicants related to the invention will be recognized for their creativity and material reward for their marketable inventions.
Patents are granted for inventions by the Patents and Companies Agency (PACRA) for a period of 16 years.
If registering through ARIPO, the applicant can also seek protection within the other 19 countries of the ARIPO which are: Botswana, Cape Verde, Kingdom of Eswatini, The Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Kingdom of Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Sierra Leone, Seychelles, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zimbabwe.
You can see a list of Zambia IP firms here.