Logo design and trade mark registration Tanzania: a guide for product brands

What a trade mark is and what it protects

A trade mark is a sign that tells buyers which business a product comes from. It can be a name, a logo, a slogan, a shape, a colour combination or a mix of these. On a packet of tea, the trade mark is the name and the picture that let a shopper pick the same tea again.

Registration gives the owner a statutory right to stop others from using the same or a confusingly similar sign on the same or similar goods. That right is stronger and easier to prove than a claim built only on use over time. It also gives a bank, a distributor or an investor a document to read when they ask what the brand is worth.

A logo is a design. A trade mark is a legal right in a sign. The two are related but not the same. A logo can be beautiful and still fail to register if it is too descriptive or too close to a mark already on the register. For that reason the design and the registration work are best planned together.

What the law says

Mainland Tanzania registers marks under the Trade and Service Marks Act, Cap. 326, with the Trade and Service Marks Regulations, GN 40 of 2000. BRELA, the Business Registrations and Licensing Agency, keeps the register and examines applications. The Act treats a mark used on goods as a trade mark and a mark used to identify services as a service mark. This guide covers goods. The companion guide on logo design and service mark registration covers services.

Three recent developments matter to a product brand that plans to file:

• On 26 September 2025 the Court of Appeal decided Lakairo Industries Group Co. Ltd and others v Kenafrica Industries Ltd and others, Civil Appeal No. 593 of 2022. Law firm alerts report that the Court held an ARIPO trade mark designating Tanzania could not be enforced in Tanzania. The practical reading is a national filing.
• Part XXI of the Written Laws (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act, 2026, is reported to amend the marks statute in response. The Act number, the section numbers and the commencement date were reported by a law firm and have not been checked against the Gazette. They should be confirmed before any filing decision relies on them.
• Zanzibar keeps a separate register under its own law. A BRELA registration does not cover Zanzibar.

The Zatra Insights note on the 2026 amendment tracks the amendment and is updated as the Gazette text is confirmed.

Who should read this

This guide is for founders and managers who sell physical or packaged goods under their own name: food and spice brands, cosmetics and cleaning products, clothing and bags, furniture, hardware, agricultural produce and software or devices sold as products. It is also for distributors who plan to put their own label on goods made by others. A professional service firm, school or hotel should read the service mark guide instead.

Is a company name the same as a trade mark?

No. Registering a company with BRELA under the Companies Act records the legal name of the company on the register of companies. It does not register a trade mark. The two registers are separate, the applications are separate, and the rights are separate.

A company can hold a certificate of incorporation for years and then find that another business registered a similar mark for similar goods first. The company then has two problems: its logo may be an infringement, and its packaging may have to change. The Zatra note on why a company name is not a trade mark explains the difference in detail.

Should the logo be designed before or after the search?

The search comes first. A search of the register and of the market shows whether a similar mark already exists for similar goods. If it does, a logo designed around that name or shape may never register, and the money spent on artwork is lost.

A sound sequence has four steps:

1. Choose two or three candidate names for the product.
2. Search each name on the register and in the market, by Nice class.
3. Brief the designer on the names that survive the search.
4. Design the logo to be distinctive, then file.

A preliminary search by a consultant is not a legal clearance opinion. Only an advocate can advise whether a mark is safe to file, and only the registrar decides whether it is registered. A search narrows risk. It does not remove it.

What makes a logo registrable?

The Act and the registrar's practice look for a mark that can distinguish one business's goods from another's. A logo is stronger when it is distinctive and weaker when it only describes the product. The points below are practical design rules, not a promise of outcome.

• Distinctive over descriptive. A picture of a tomato for a tomato sauce describes the goods. A coined name with a simple symbol is easier to register and easier to defend.
• Not confusingly similar. Colour changes and a new font do not make a copy of an existing logo safe.
• No official or misleading signs. State emblems, flags, national symbols and signs that mislead buyers about origin or quality are problems.
• Simple enough to reproduce. The registrar needs a clear image, and printers, sign makers and labellers need to copy it without losing detail.
• Works in black and white. A mark that depends on a colour gradient to be recognised is harder to file and harder to enforce.

Which Nice classes does a product brand need?

Marks are registered by class under the Nice Classification, which WIPO publishes. Classes 1 to 34 cover goods. The class decides what the registration covers, so a mark registered in one class does not automatically cover goods in another.

The class list for a real application is built from the product range, not from this table. Each extra class adds a separate government fee and a separate part of the examination. The advocate or agent confirms the final list against the current Nice edition.

Word mark, logo mark or both?

A word mark protects the name in any lettering. A logo mark, also called a device mark, protects the design as filed. A composite mark combines name and design in one image.

Many owners file the word mark first because it survives a redesign, and add the logo once it is final. That choice is for the owner and the advocate to make together.

What files does the designer hand over?

The registrar and the filing representative need clean artwork. A designer who knows the filing requirement prepares it with the logo, so nothing is redrawn later.

The exact list of attachments is set by the current BRELA procedure. The filing representative confirms it before the application is lodged.

Who does what

A product brand deals with several parties. Keeping the roles clear avoids delay and avoids paying twice for the same work.

NEMBO does not file the application and does not decide the outcome. The registrar does.

What happens after filing?

An application is examined by the registrar. If it is accepted, it is published so that others can object. If nobody objects, or an objection fails, the mark is registered. If the registrar raises a problem, the representative answers it. The timeline depends on the registrar's workload and on whether anyone objects, so no consultant can promise a date.

The owner should keep using the mark in the course of trade, keep proof of use, and diary the renewal date shown on the certificate. The renewal period and the rules for non-use should be taken from the certificate and the Act, not from a blog post.

Mainland, Zanzibar and ARIPO

Three routes are often confused.

The Zatra notes on Zanzibar as a separate filing and on the ARIPO and Madrid route cover each route.

What does it cost?

Costs fall into two buckets and are kept apart on every quote.

1. Government fees. Paid to BRELA against a control number, per class and per filing step. The amounts are in the Zatra fee register, each with an ID, and they change. They are not quoted in this guide.
2. Professional and design fees. Paid to NEMBO for the logo and filing artwork, to Zatra Consultants for preparation, and to the advocate or agent for filing. NEMBO prices are quoted in writing after the brief.

Government fees are never folded into a design or professional fee, so the owner can see exactly what each party charges.

A worked example

A fictional business, Mlimani Spices, packs three spice blends in Dar es Salaam and sells through shops in three regions.

• The owner shortlists two names. The search finds a similar name for packaged tea but none for spices, so the owner keeps the second name.
• The designer draws a simple leaf symbol with the name, tests it in black and white at 20 millimetres wide, and prepares a vector master.
• The goods fall in Nice class 30. The owner decides to file the word mark first and the logo once the packaging is final.
• The advocate files, answers one question from the registrar, and the mark is published.

This is a worked illustration, not a client case and not a forecast. Each real application depends on its own search result and on the registrar.

What to do now

1. Choose the candidate names. Pick two or three, and keep notes on why each fits the product.
2. Search before spending on design. Search the register and the market by class, and ask an advocate to read the result.
3. Decide word mark, logo mark or both. Match the choice to the brand plan and the budget.
4. Brief the designer on the survivors. Give the goods list, the markets and where the logo will be printed.
5. Approve the filing artwork. Check the black and white version at small size.
6. File through an advocate or registered agent. Pay BRELA fees separately against the control number.
7. Protect the Zanzibar and import position. Ask the advocate whether a Zanzibar filing and customs recordation are needed.
8. Diary the dates. Record the filing date, the publication date and the renewal date.

How NEMBO and Zatra help

NEMBO designs the logo and the filing artwork in the house style of the client and delivers a brand file set. Zatra Consultants Limited researches the names, prepares the application pack and checks that the goods, classes and applicant details agree. An advocate or registered agent files. The service is described on the NEMBO logo and trade mark page, and the wider brand identity system or logo guide explains when a full identity system is needed. Quotes are in writing after the brief.