The first matter in the IP Tribunal of Zimbabwe IPT/01/16 was heard on the 28th of February 2018. A very significant day in the making of history of IP law in Zimbabwe.

I will tell you why.On the 10th of September 2010, the IP Tribunal was established through the enactment of the IP Tribunal Act( Chapter 26:08). Essentially this is a specialized court set up for the purposes of hearing and determining references, applications, appeals and other matters in terms of the Industrial Designs Act, Patents Act, Trade Marks Act,Copyright & Neighbouring Rights Act, Geographical Indications Act & the Integrated Circuit Layout Designs Act.

Despite the existence of of this Tribunal on paper, through a statute which was now gathering dust, 8 years later, the Tribunal has now been constituted, it sat for the first time on to hear an appeal from a decision made by the Controller of Patents, Trade Marks, Industrial designs & Copyright… in a trade Mark opposition case.(these matters often die in the Registrar’s office without being litigated further or reported on).

We are not only a witness of this historical moment but a participant of the making of this history:Appellant’s Attorneys.Judgment was reserved and we await the ruling.Whatever the outcome, we now have reference. Judicial precedent of the first IP appeal case of the IP Tribunal in Zimbabwe.