The quest for legal certainty
The Mozambique Industrial Property Code (IPC), which has been in force since 2016, provides six main IP rights that any entity may use to protect their distinctive signs in commerce.
The aim of this article is to analyse to what extent these six different rights are necessary and the effects they may produce on Mozambique’s IP system.
Article 1 of the IPC provides definitions of distinctive signs, including:
(g)
Establishment insignia: a sign or set of signs consisting of figures or drawings, individual or combined with names constituting the name of the establishment, or consisting of other denominations or currencies, provided that their combination presents a specific shape or configuration with sufficient distinctive capacity.
(h)
Logotype: a sign composition consisting of figures or drawings, individually or combined, that is suitable for referencing a public or private entity;
(i)
Trademark: any distinctive, manifestly visible, audible or olfactory sign, which is capable of graphic representation and which permits the goods and services of one enterprise to be distinguished from those of another, consisting of words, including personal names, designs, letters, numbers, sounds, product shape or packaging;
(j)
Collective trademark: the distinguishing sign of origin or any other common feature, including the quality of goods or services, of companies, members of an association, group or entity;
(k)
Certification trademark: the sign identifying products and services which, although used by different entities under the supervision of the holder, guarantee the particular characteristics or qualities of the goods or services covered by the trademark;
(m)
Trade names: the trade name, name or expression that identifies a legal or natural person in the course of commercial operations; and
(n)
Establishment names: the designation consisting of proper names, fantasy or specific names, or any other names, which identify and individualise the physical space where economic activity is pursued.
Despite not being provided by the IPC, Mozambican law also protects corporate names, consisting of the name of a business entity that includes words and the corporate type, which is also a right to a distinctive sign.
In summary, considering the various types of trademarks under the general concept of trademark we can identify, there are six main rights to distinctive signs in Mozambique: trademark, logotype, trade name, establishment name, establishment insignia and corporate name.
Evolution of distinctive signs
The IPC of 1999, the first of its kind in the legal regime of Mozambique, introduced the basic framework for regulation of distinctive signs. This law first introduced the concept of trademarks, logotypes, trade names and establishment names and insignia.
