ZIMBABWE Investment and Development Agency (Zida) chairperson Busisa Moyo has called for more awareness of opportunities that exist for entrepreneurs to commercialise their projects.
This comes after the government slashed trademark registration fees for women, small to medium enterprises (SMEs) and university students.
The move is aimed at promoting innovation, entrepreneurship and intellectual property protection for entrepreneurs who often cite regulatory costs as a major burden in starting new businesses or ventures.
“Lowering the cost of patenting and registering marks for women, universities, students and SMEs is a positive step and encourages a legally protected form of entrepreneurship, invention and innovation,” Moyo said in a statement.
“More needs to be done for awareness and for entrepreneurs to be aware of the opportunity to commercialise ideas, concepts and inventions for scalability. Big companies can’t ‘steal’, earn value off your idea any longer if you patent or protect it.”
The Trade Marks (Amendment) Regulations, 2025 (No. 6), published in the Government Gazette replaces the fee in applying for trademarks schedule originally set in 2005.
“It is hereby notified that the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs has, in terms of section 104 of the Trade Mark Act [Chapter 26:04], made the following regulations: These regulations may be cited as the Trade Marks (Amendment) Regulations, 2025 (No. 6). The First Schedule to the Trade Marks Regulations, 200. Published in Statutory Instrument 170 of 2005, is repealed and the substitution of,” it read.
“On application to register, a trademark or defensive mark and women/ students/universities/research institutions/individuals now costs US$30, SMEs now costs US$50 and corporate now costs US$200.”
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In Zimbabwe, trademark registration costs vary based on the number of classes and stage of the process.
A search fee is US$120 for the first class and US$100 for each additional class. Application fees are US$1 150 for the first class and US$750 for each additional class.
The final fee for registration is US$450 for the first class and US$300 for each additional class and is only due if the registration is successful.
