Trade Marks (Amendment) Regulations, 2025 (No. 6)
Trade mark fees are now tiered by applicant: registering a mark costs US$30 for an individual, US$50 for an SME and US$200 for a company, with renewal at the same rates — the 2023 fees are repealed.
The First Schedule to the Trade Marks Regulations, 2005 is repealed and replaced, and the 2023 fee amendment (SI 99 of 2023) is repealed with it. Fees are now stated in US dollars across three tiers: women, students, universities, research institutions and individuals; SMEs; and corporate bodies.
The headline rates are US$30, US$50 and US$200 for applying to register a trade mark or defensive mark, and the same for renewal at the expiry of the last registration. Each additional mark in a series or class of a certification mark is US$10, US$15 or US$40. Restoring a mark removed for non-payment of renewal fees costs US$70, US$100 or US$400.
Registered user and subsequent proprietor applications are priced by volume, and both use the same ladder: US$30/50/200 for one to five marks, US$50/100/280 for six to ten, US$70/100/400 for eleven to twenty, and US$100/120/500 for twenty-one or more (charged per mark or class). An appeal to the Tribunal from a decision of the Registrar is US$30, US$50 or US$200. Searches, copies per page and electronic searches are US$1 at every tier, while a lodging box and registration as an IP agent are US$120 a year regardless of tier.
Two things in the published table do not resolve. Opposition appears twice at different prices — item 24, filing a notice of opposition under section 22(2), is US$15/20/80, while item 36, "Filing an Opposition", is US$30/50/200. Item 35, "Application for Hearing", is listed with no fee against it at all. The instrument gives no rule for which figure governs.
Claiming a research institution, academic institution, student or SME rate requires a declaration of entity form, gazetted with the instrument, to be submitted with the application. An SME is defined by employees and asset value: micro 1–5 employees and up to US$30 000 in assets, small 6–30 and US$30 001–500 000, medium 31–75 and US$500 001–1 000 000. Local applicants may pay in Zimbabwean dollars at the prevailing bank rate; foreign applicants pay in US dollars. No commencement date is stated; the instrument was gazetted on 18 April 2025.
What changed
- The First Schedule to the Trade Marks Regulations, 2005 (SI 170 of 2005) is repealed and replaced.
- The Trade Marks (Amendment) Regulations, 2023 (No. 5) (SI 99 of 2023) are repealed.
- Fees are tiered three ways: individuals/women/students/universities/research institutions, SMEs, and corporate bodies.
- Application to register a trade mark or defensive mark: US$30, US$50 or US$200; renewal is the same.
- Restoration of a mark removed for non-payment: US$70, US$100 or US$400.
- Registered user and subsequent proprietor applications are banded by volume from US$30/50/200 up to US$100/120/500.
- Appeal to the Tribunal from the Registrar: US$30, US$50 or US$200.
- Searches, electronic searches and copies per page are US$1 at every tier; lodging box rental and IP agent registration are US$120 a year.
- The table prices opposition twice and inconsistently — US$15/20/80 at item 24 and US$30/50/200 at item 36 — and lists item 35, application for a hearing, with no fee.
- A declaration of entity form must accompany any application claiming the student, research institution or SME rate.
Who this affects
- businesses registering or renewing trade marks in Zimbabwe
- SMEs claiming the reduced tier
- women, students, universities and research institutions claiming the lowest tier
- intellectual property agents and lawyers
- foreign applicants paying in US dollars
Plain-language summary — not legal advice. Always read the full instrument.