BRELA moves to stamp patents onto products to protect inventions,Ideas

28Nov 2023
Marc Nkwame
Arusha
News
The Guardian
BRELA moves to stamp patents onto products to protect inventions,Ideas

MANY Tanzanians have been inventing technology and new products that are capable of solving global problems, but the fact that their conceptions were not patented; many of the creations could have been stolen by clever impostors elsewhere.

To remedy that, the Business Registrations and Licensing Agency (BRELA), is setting out on special mission around the country to raise awareness among Tanzanians that it is high time their new ideas, inventions and products get patented before being disclosed to the public.

 

Speaking in Arusha, the Registration Officer at BRELA, Juliet Kihwelo explained that intellectual property listing can be processed through the agency’s Online Registration System (ORS) portal, in addition to using the main or regional offices.

 

“We have experienced cases of inventors who take their creations for display at exhibitions or trade fairs before patenting them, they have no idea that people, who visit their pavilions, steal their ideas, taking them for registrations and applications elsewhere,” pointed out Kihwelo, adding that BREALA is now setting out to educate the mass on the issue.

 

BRELA officials are currently in Arusha, holding training sessions to that effect for the residents and business persons in the six districts of the region, including Meru, Arusha Urban, Arusha Rural DC and Longido.

 

Benedickson Wilson Byamanyilwowa, the assistant registration officer for BRELA explained that a patent is a type of intellectual property ownership that grants its holder the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a certain period of time.

 

“Usually people invent things to solve certain problems, which means such creations could be in high demand, therefore if not protected chances are they will be stolen from original authors and even smuggled out of the country,” said Wilson.

 

One of the people undergoing training in the City include Charles Makoi a representative of the Arusha Chapter for the Tanzania Chamber of Commerce Industry and Trade (TCCIA) who admits that awareness on Business and Trademark Registrations is very important.

 

“We have had cases of businesses that have been operating successfully for more than ten years only to have their names or identities taken by newcomers resulting in lawsuits,” said Makoi.

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