Malawi is a member of the Paris Convention, the Nice Agreement, and the Banjul Protocol of ARIPO, and the WTO/TRIPS.

Provision is made for the registration of trade marks for goods (Part A or B of the register), for certification marks (Part C), and for defensive trade marks (Part D).

Types of Trademark registrable

Service marks are not registrable.

Malawi operates a “Single-class” registration system (A separate application is required for each class). There are provisions for the registration of CERTIFICATION MARKS, DEFENSIVE MARKS and SERIES MARKS.

Documents required for trademark registration

1. Simply singed power of attorney
2. Twelve prints of the trademark (not required for word marks).
3. Statement of use or proposal to use

Renewals

Duration of registration is 7 years from filing date. Marks may be renewed for further periods of 14 years. Renewal applications are to be lodged within 6 months before expiry.

Documents required for renewals

No documents required.

Documents required for assignments/mergers

1. Power of Attorney, simply signed.
2. Deed of Assignment or other instrument of title, with verified English translation.

Documents required for change of name

1. Power of Attorney, simply signed.
2. Certificate of Change of Name, with verified English translation.

Documents required for change of address

Power of Attorney, simply signed.

Documents required for licenses/registered users

1. Powers of Attorney, simply signed, from proprietor and licensee.
2. Declaration and Statement of Case, with verified English translation.
3. License Agreement, with verified English translation.

Malawi is a member of the Paris Convention, ARIPO (Harare Protocol), the PCT and the WTO/TRIPS. Malawi is also a member of the Strasbourg Agreement on the International Patent Classification.

Patent protection is available by way of a national filing or via an ARIPO application designating Malawi.  The Act expressly recognises the Harare Protocol of ARIPO and provides that a patent granted under the Protocol (and designating Malawi) shall have effect in Malawi as if it were granted under the Act. It would appear, therefore, that valid patent protection could be obtained via an ARIPO application designating Malawi.

However, Malawi has not yet promulgated regulations to implement the Harare Protocol. Accordingly, there is uncertainty regarding the enforceability of rights obtained through the filing of an ARIPO application designating Malawi.

Malawi has not yet amended its laws to provide for the PCT. Accordingly, it is not certain whether valid patent protection can be obtained via a PCT national phase application in Malawi.

Filing Requirements:

National Phase PCT Application:

Even though there is no enabling legislation, the Malawian authorities are receiving and processing national phase patent applications.

1. Power of attorney
2. Specification, claims and abstract in English
3. Formal drawings, if applicable
4. Assignment of Invention
5. Copy of Published International Application
6. Copy of International Search Report
7. Copy of International Preliminary Report on Patentability

Patents of Invention (Non-PCT):

1. Power of Attorney
2. Specification, claims and abstract in English
3. Formal drawings, if applicable
4. Assignment of Invention
5. Priority document with verified English translation

Duration and Renewal

The term of a patent is sixteen years from the filing date, which may be extended for one further period of up to five years on the ground of inadequate remuneration, and in exceptional circumstances a period of up to ten years.
Renewal fees are payable annually commencing on the third anniversary of the filing date.

Malawi is a member of the Paris Convention, ARIPO (Harare Protocol), the Locarno Agreement on Classification of Designs and the WTO/TRIPS.

Design protection is available by way of a national filing or via an ARIPO application designating Malawi. The Harare Protocol is recognised in the Act, and there is a provision that a design registered under the Protocol shall have effect in Malawi as if it were a design registered under the Act. However, Malawi has not fully implemented the Harare Protocol (which regulates patent and design filings in ARIPO) in its national laws. Accordingly, it is unclear whether any valid rights would be obtained by way of an ARIPO design registration designating Malawi.

Filing Requirements

1. Power of Attorney
2. Drawings, photographs or graphic representations of the industrial design
3. Except in the case of an application to register a design to be applied to a textile article, to wallpaper or to lace, the application must be accompanied by a statement of the features of the design for which novelty is claimed.
4. Certified copy of priority document, if priority claimed, with verified English translation
5. Assignment document

Duration and Renewal

Design registration is valid for an initial term of five years from the filing date, which is renewable upon payment of the required fees for two further terms of five years each. A grace period of three months is provided for late payment of renewal fees.

Malawi is a member of the Berne Convention.

The Act provides for the following works to be eligible for copyright protection:

• literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works
• expressions of folklore
• performances
• audiovisual works and sound recordings
• broadcasts
• typographical arrangements of works published in Malawi.

Literary works are further defined to include:

• novels, stories, poetic works, letters, reports, memoranda
• plays, stage directions, film scenarios, broadcasting scripts
• textbooks, treaties, essays, articles, encyclopaedias, dictionaries
• lectures, addresses and sermons
• charts, tables and compilations of data
• computer programs.

Artistic works are further defined to include:

• paintings, drawings, etchings, lithographs, woodcuts, engravings, prints
• maps, plans, diagrams
• works of sculpture, works of architecture
• photographs, works of artistic craftsmanship.

Folklore is defined to mean literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works belonging to the cultural heritage of Malawi created, preserved and developed by ethnic communities of Malawi.