Practice Areas

A patent is a legal document which is granted by a national  or regional  Patent Office upon the filing of a patent application which defines the scope of the invention for which the inventor or the owner of the invention has the exclusive right to control the use or disposal of the invention as defined  in the patent application filed and granted by the Patent office.

Patents are territorial in that they can only be recognized and enforced in the countries in which they have been applied for and granted.

A patent can be obtained for an invention if the invention is new, has an inventive step and is industrially applicable.

Copyright is defined as a legal right which subsists in a work and which by virtue of the Act authorises the owner of the copyright in Zimbabwe exclusively to do, and to authorise others to do, the things which the Act designates in relation to that work.

Works which are eligible for copyright protection in Zimbabwe include literary works, musical works, artistic works, audio – visual works, sound recordings, broadcast, programme carrying signals and published editions.

An industrial design is that aspect of an article which is ornamental or aesthetic. It may consist of features such as the shape, surface, patterns, lines or colour.

Industrial designs are applied to a wide variety of products in industry and  handicrafts such as vehicles, electrical appliances, toys, textile designs and pottery.

Industrial design protection is important because it relates to those aspects of goods and articles which make them aesthetically appealing and facilitate their marketing and commercialisation.

Industrial design protection protects the owner of the design from unauthorised copying or imitation of his design by third parties and ensures a fair return on investment.

Honey & Blanckenberg is a prominent intellectual property agent in the African Regional Industrial Property Organization (ARIPO), which is headquartered in Harare, Zimbabwe.

ARIPO is a non-governmental organisation which was created in 1976 with the objective of, among other things:

Honey & Blanckenberg provides legal advice to corporate, commercial and industrial businesses; drafts contracts and agreements; represents clients in mediation and arbitration proceedings; and litigates on a wide range of  matters that arise in trade and business.