The Patents (Registration) Act

This Act may be cited as the Patents (Registration) Act.

This section defines key terms used in the Act, such as application, applicant, ARIPO office, Court, Minister, Registrar, and related expressions.

A Government Office called the Patents Office is established.

The President may appoint a Registrar of Patents, and the Minister may appoint deputy registrars, examiners, and other officers.

The Patents Office must carry out the functions listed here, including granting patents, promoting inventiveness, running a patent documentation centre, collaborating with other bodies, and providing patent technology information.

The Registrar must maintain the Patents register. A person may inspect it on request and take extracts on payment of a prescribed fee.

This section defines “invention” and lists things that are not treated as inventions.

An invention is patentable only if it is new, involves an inventive step, and is industrially applicable.

This section explains when an invention counts as new for novelty purposes and what counts as prior art.

An invention counts as having an inventive step if, considering the prior art, it would not be obvious to a skilled person at the filing date or claimed priority date.

An invention counts as having industrial application if it can be made or used in a technological sense in industry, including agriculture, fishery, and services.

A patent may still be obtained for an invention even if using it is prohibited by law, unless public order or morality bars that exploitation.

Certain inventions may be extended for additional periods by statutory instrument, and each extension period cannot exceed ten years.

The inventor owns the right to a patent, including joint inventors and the first qualifying applicant in certain independent-invention cases.

If a patent applicant has taken the essential elements of an invention from another person’s invention, the applicant must assign the application, or the patent if already granted, to that other person unless authorised by them.

A patent for an invention made under a commission or employment contract belongs to the commissioner or employer unless the contract says otherwise.

The inventor must be named in the patent unless the inventor gives a special written declaration to the Registrar saying they do not want to be named.

Patent applications must be filed with the Registrar and include specified materials and statements.

A patent application must be for one invention only, or for a group of inventions linked by a single general inventive concept.

A person applying may split an application into one or more separate applications, as long as each one stays within the disclosure in the original application.

An application may include a Paris Convention priority declaration, and the Registrar may later require a certified copy of the earlier application.

Patent applicants must give the Registrar specified information and foreign-application documents when asked, and may submit comments on those documents.

A fee for registering a patent must be set by regulations made under this Act.

A patent applicant may withdraw the application before the patent is granted or before rejection/refusal is notified.

The Registrar must set the filing date based on receipt if the application meets required form items, and must examine, request corrections, and reject noncompliant patent applications.

The Registrar may send a properly formed patent application for international search, ask for fees and documents, and reject the application if the applicant does not comply or the application fails the stated substantive requirements.

The Minister may set patent applications in a specified technical field for substantive examination, and the Registrar must examine, notify, and refuse the patent if the conditions are not met.

A patent must be granted and issued to the applicant unless the application was rejected or the patent was refused, and any granted patent must be registered and published.

A patent granted under the Protocol has the same effect in the United Republic as a patent granted under this Act, unless the Registrar has sent a decision to the ARIPO office saying it will have no effect there.

The applicant may appeal to the court against certain Registrar decisions on a patent application.

This section defines “international application” and says several patent-related terms have the meanings given in the Patent Co-operation Treaty.

The Patents Office must act as the receiving, designated, or elected office for qualifying international patent applications, and must follow the Patent Co-operation Treaty, this Act, and related regulations.

If an international search or preliminary examination report does not cover all claims, the Registrar may reject the application or treat uncovered claims as withdrawn, unless the applicant overcomes the stated justification or fee issues.

Relief under section 67 can be sought for acts done after international publication of the patent application and before the patent is granted, if the publication was in English; if it was not in English, the rule applies only after an English translation has been sent and only for acts done after the infringer received it.

The applicant or patent owner has certain patent rights and must also meet disclosure, information, working, fee, and anti-abuse obligations.

The patent owner has the right to stop others from exploiting the patented invention.

The patent’s scope of protection is determined by the claims.

Patent rights are limited to industrial or commercial acts and do not extend to scientific research, certain marketed goods, or certain foreign transport vehicles entering the country temporarily or accidentally.

A patent normally expires 10 years after the application date, but the Registrar can extend it by 5 years if the owner or licensee applies in time and meets the stated conditions.

Annual fees must be paid in advance to keep an application or patent in force, with a grace period and a possible restoration process if payment is missed.

Contracts assigning applications or patents are only valid if they are in writing and signed by the parties. Changes in ownership must be recorded in the Patent Register, and related documents may be excluded as evidence until the change is recorded, unless the court directs otherwise.

Joint owners of an application or patent may, unless they agree otherwise, transfer their shares separately, exploit the patented invention, and stop others from exploiting it; permission to a third person for acts in section 36 may be granted only jointly.

This section defines “licence contract,” “licensor,” “licensee,” and “third person,” and says that acts referred to in section 36 include those acts when they relate to an application.

The licensee is entitled to do the acts referred to in section 36, unless the licence contract says otherwise, and may not let a third person do those acts.

The licensor may allow others to do, and may do itself, the acts covered by the licence contract unless the contract says otherwise; if the licence is exclusive, the licensor cannot do those acts or allow others to do them unless the contract expressly says otherwise.

If a licence contract is not in writing and signed by the parties, it is not valid. The court may also order repayment of royalties or return of other consideration in certain patent-application or patent-invalidity situations.

Licence contracts must be submitted to the Registrar for registration, with the required documents and fee, and the Registrar must issue a receipt or refuse registration for specified reasons.

The Registrar may refuse to register a licence contract if its terms have certain anti-competitive or restrictive effects.

The Registrar must register a contract and issue a certificate when the contract may be registered.

The contract contents must be kept confidential, except where both parties agree to let third parties access them, and only to the extent they permit.

A petitioner may appeal a Registrar’s refusal to the court within two months, and only on the listed grounds.

A person may ask the court for a compulsory licence after the stated waiting period, on specified grounds, but the licence must not be granted if the patent owner shows its actions were justifiable.

The owner of a later patent may ask the court for a compulsory licence over an earlier patent if the invention cannot be worked without infringing the earlier patent and the statutory conditions are met.

The Minister may order that a compulsory licence can be granted for certain patented inventions or manufacturing processes that are declared vital for defence, the economy, or public health.

A compulsory licence cannot be granted unless the applicant first satisfies the court of failed attempts to get a contractual patent licence on reasonable terms and time, and offers guarantees to work the invention to fix the problem or meet the need that led to the request.

The court decides whether to grant a compulsory licence and, if it does, fixes terms that make the licence non-exclusive, limit further sublicensing, and require equitable remuneration to the patent owner.

A compulsory licence may be transferred only with the industrial or commercial undertaking where the invention is used, and the court must consent before the transfer is valid.

The court may cancel or vary a compulsory patent licence on application by the patent owner, the Registrar, or the licensee, subject to the stated conditions.

If the court grants, cancels, or varies a compulsory licence, it must inform the Registrar, who must register the change without fee.

The owner of a patent may ask the Registrar to record that licences are available as of right; if recorded, others may require a non-exclusive licence and the patent’s annual fees are halved.

The Minister may authorize government or a designated third person to exploit a patented invention in the public interest, and the owner must be paid remuneration.

The owner may surrender a patent, and the surrender can be limited to one or more claims.

An interested person may ask the court to invalidate a patent, and the court must invalidate it if the stated grounds are met.

An invalidated patent, claim, or part of a claim is treated as null and void from the patent grant date. Once the court decision can no longer be appealed, the court must notify the Registrar, who must register the decision in the patent register and publish it as soon as possible.

An act listed in section 36 is an infringement if a non-owner does it without the patent owner’s authorisation, subject to sections 38, 39, 55 and 57.

If the patent owner asks, the court must grant relief including an injunction, damages, and any other civil-law remedy.

A person with a legitimate interest may ask the court to declare that a specific act would not infringe a patent, but the court cannot make that declaration if certain infringement proceedings or proof requirements are not met.

A person threatened with infringement proceedings may ask the court for an injunction and damages if they can prove the acts do not infringe.

Intentionally infringing a patent is an offence and can lead to a fine, imprisonment, forfeiture of goods, and doubled maximum penalties for recidivism.

If a patent covers a process for making a product with novel features, that product is presumed to have been made by that process unless the contrary is proved.

An exclusive licensee may ask the patent owner to start infringement proceedings, and may start them in its own name if the owner does not act within three months after notice. The court may also grant an injunction early in urgent cases.

This section says Parts I to XV and XVII apply to utility certificates or applications, subject to section 74.

Utility certificates must meet the new and industrially applicable test, are entered in a separate part of the Register, expire after seven years from filing with no renewal, and several other sections do not apply to them or to related applications.

An applicant for a patent or utility certificate may convert the application to the other type before grant or rejection, if the fee is paid. A conversion under subsection (1) cannot be done more than once.

A UK-registered design proprietor is entitled to the same privileges and rights in Tanzania, subject to this Act.

A registered proprietor of a design cannot recover damages for copyright infringement if the defendant proves they were unaware, and had no reasonable way of becoming aware, of the design’s registration at the time of infringement.

The Court may declare that exclusive rights in a design were not acquired in Tanzania if someone affected applies on supported grounds.

The Minister must make regulations for matters this Act says should be prescribed by regulations, and for better carrying out and administering the Act.

This section is a repeal provision for the Patent (Registration) Ordinance.

This section keeps certain older patent registrations and related contracts working during the transition to this Act, with some limits and a 60-day registration deadline for certain contracts.