The IP law and trade marks: Law N° 055/2024 on the protection of intellectual property, who may file and the compulsory local agent, registrable signs and refusal grounds, RDB's search and filing procedure, Gazette publication and the 60-day opposition, ten-year terms, non-use, Madrid designations and RDB's published fees

The 2024 law: one statute for all intellectual property

Rwanda's intellectual property is governed by Law N° 055/2024 of 20/06/2024 on the protection of intellectual property (the IP Law), published in the Official Gazette n° Special of 31/07/2024 and in force from that date (Article 387). It repealed Law n° 31/2009 of 26/10/2009 on the protection of intellectual property "as amended to date" (Article 386). The IP Law runs to 387 articles and covers every category in one text: patents, utility models, industrial designs and layout-designs of integrated circuits; marks, collective and certification marks, trade names and second-level domain names; geographical indications; unfair competition and secret information; copyright and related rights; and, in its fourth title, civil enforcement, border measures and offences. Article 385 records that the law was drafted in English and adopted in Kinyarwanda, so where the three Gazette versions diverge the Kinyarwanda text is the adopted one.

The law speaks throughout of the competent authority, defined in Article 2 as "the organ in charge of protection of intellectual property". It does not itself create an intellectual property office, despite what some commentaries on the 2024 reform suggest. In practice the Intellectual Property Division of the Office of the Registrar General at the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) examines and registers industrial property, keeps the registers listed in Article 261 and takes filings at ipdesk@rdb.rw and through RDB's online services. The Minister in charge of intellectual property makes the orders the law requires on fees, agents, the appeal bodies and opposition procedure, and decides compulsory licences; the Ministry of Youth and Arts made the September 2026 copyright royalties order discussed in Copyright, software and digital content.

Article 11 of Law N° 006/2021 of 05/02/2021 on Investment Promotion and Facilitation separately guarantees every investor's intellectual property rights and legitimate rights related to technology transfer, as set out in The Investment Code 2021. That guarantee adds a treaty-style commitment, but the rights themselves exist only as the IP Law defines and registers them.

Registration is what creates the right, and the first to file wins

Article 253 is short and decisive: "The owner of industrial property enjoys exclusive rights on it only when it is registered." Article 264 adds the first application principle: where two or more persons independently develop the same invention, utility model, design, layout-design or mark, the first applicant takes the priority date. A foreign brand that has traded into Rwanda for years without filing therefore has no registered right to enforce, and a distributor, agent or opportunist who files first can obtain the registration. The investor's remedies are then indirect: opposition within the 60-day window if the filing is caught in time, invalidation in court for bad faith or imitation of a well-known mark (Article 200), or an unfair competition claim (Articles 269 to 277).

The well-known mark rule gives some protection without registration. Under Article 185 a mark is refused as imitative if it is identical or confusingly similar to, or a translation of, a mark or trade name well known in Rwanda for the same or similar goods, and for dissimilar goods where use would suggest a connection with the owner and damage its interests. Whether a mark is well known depends on recognition in the relevant sector of the Rwandan public, including recognition arising from advertising (Article 185(2)). That is a matter of evidence, and reputation earned only abroad may not be enough. The prudent course, repeated in FAQ 84, is to file before launching and before appointing a local distributor.

Who may file, and the compulsory local agent

Article 250 opens the register to four groups: Rwandans habitually resident in Rwanda and legal entities with their headquarters or a real and effective establishment in Rwanda; nationals of states party to the Paris Convention or members of the World Trade Organization; nationals of other states who are domiciled or have a real and effective establishment in a Paris or WTO state; and anyone else to the extent that their country grants equivalent protection to Rwandans. Rwanda has been party to the Paris Convention since 1 March 1984, so almost every foreign investor qualifies.

The material rule for foreign applicants is Article 251(2): an applicant whose habitual residence or principal place of business is outside Rwanda must be represented by an industrial property agent authorised by the competent authority to practise in Rwanda, while a resident applicant may choose to use one (Article 251(1)). The appointment must be notified to the competent authority in writing (Article 251(3)), and a Ministerial Order is to set the modalities for agents and the form of the power of attorney (Article 251(4)); no such Order had been located at 10 October 2026. RDB's published procedure adds that a foreign company pays its fees through its local agent and files a notarised copy of its certificate of incorporation, and that a representative's power of attorney should be notarised. A Rwandan subsidiary of a foreign group, being headquartered in Rwanda, can file in its own name without an agent, which is one reason some groups hold Rwandan marks in the local company under a licence from the parent.

What can be registered, and why marks are refused

A mark is any sign or combination of signs capable of distinguishing one person's goods or services from another's (Article 182(1)). Eligible signs include words, proper names, letters, figures and abbreviations; figurative elements such as designs, packaging, product forms and shapes; colours and combinations of colours; and any combination of these (Article 182(2)). Goods and services are classified under the Nice classification, and RDB accepts multi-class applications.

Article 183 sets four tests: the mark must be distinctive, not imitative, not confusing and not descriptive. A mark lacking inherent distinctiveness may still be registered if the competent authority accepts that it has acquired distinctiveness through continuous use (Article 184(2)). A mark is confusing if it is likely to mislead about geographical origin, quality, nature, characteristics, manufacturing process or suitability, or contains a misleading geographical indication or a name similar to a registered trade name in the same business (Article 186). It is descriptive if it consists of words serving only to designate kind, quality, quantity, purpose, value, origin or time of production, or of terms in common use or common technical terms in the field (Article 187). Article 188 refuses applications made in bad faith and marks whose registration would lessen competition, restrain trade or abuse market power, and Article 189 excludes marks contrary to public order and morality and those reproducing state or intergovernmental emblems without authorisation. The competent authority may require, and the applicant may volunteer, a disclaimer of an unregistrable element such as a descriptive word within a logo (Article 192(2) and (3)).

The statutory timetable, from filing to certificate

An application is filed on the prescribed form with the prescribed fee (Article 190). If something is missing, the applicant has 14 days from notification to complete it, the filing date becomes the date the missing elements are received, and an application not completed is treated as withdrawn (Article 191); the period under the 2009 law was seven days. The competent authority then examines the substance against Articles 183 to 189 and, if it refuses, notifies the applicant in writing within 14 days of its decision (Article 192(4)).

An accepted application is published in the Official Gazette within 30 days of examination (Article 193). Any interested person may then oppose within 60 days of publication on any of six grounds: lack of distinctiveness, imitation, likelihood of confusion, descriptiveness, bad faith or unfair competition (Article 194). The competent authority sends the notice to the applicant within seven days; the applicant must answer within 30 days of receiving it, failing which the application is considered abandoned; and after hearing both sides the authority decides within 30 days of the last hearing (Article 195). Either side may appeal to the Appeal Committee within 30 days of notification, its composition to be fixed by Ministerial Order (Article 196). From publication until registration the applicant enjoys the same rights as a registered owner, but those rights are void from the application date if an opposition succeeds (Article 197). On registration the mark is entered in the register, a certificate issues and the registration is published within 30 days (Articles 198 and 199).

RDB's published procedure gives a total of 31 to 91 days from search to certificate, most of it a 30 to 90 day wait after filing. That estimate sits uneasily with a 60-day opposition period that starts only on Gazette publication, so applicants should treat the RDB figure as a best case for unopposed marks and diarise the opposition window. The procedure page also cites Articles 142 to 148 of the IP Law for its trade mark steps, which are in fact the provisions on layout-designs of integrated circuits; the trade mark provisions are Articles 182 to 233.

Rights, limits, non-use and renewal

Registration gives the owner the exclusive right to use the mark in Rwanda and to prevent anyone using it without authorisation (Article 202), and the owner may sue anyone who uses the registered mark or an imitative mark, or facilitates or procures such use, without consent (Article 203). Remedies, interim orders and criminal penalties are covered in IP enforcement and anti-counterfeiting.

Article 205 sets two limits. First, rights do not extend to goods or services lawfully put on the market in Rwanda by the owner or with its consent, a rule of national exhaustion; informative use, such as comparative advertising that does not deceive, is also permitted. Second, the Minister may declare mark rights exhausted and authorise parallel imports of genuine goods where the product is unavailable in Rwanda, falls below required standards, cannot be supplied in sufficient quantity or is priced unfairly, or for other public-interest reasons, provided the goods were put on the foreign market by the owner or with its authority. The Minister in charge of health may also limit the use of marks to promote generic medicines (Article 205(6)).

Protection lasts 10 years from the filing date and may be renewed indefinitely for further 10-year periods on payment of the prescribed fee; a six-month grace period applies after the deadline, subject to a surcharge, after which protection lapses (Article 206). An owner who misses a maintenance deadline may ask for reinstatement on reasonable grounds within 12 months of the deadline (Article 263). The competent authority may, of its own motion or at the request of an interested person, start removal of a mark that neither the owner nor a licensee has used for three consecutive years from registration; the owner has 30 days from notification to show legitimate reasons for non-use, failing which the mark is removed (Article 204). Use by a licensee counts, which is a further reason to record licences: an unrecorded licence is not valid under Article 209(3), as explained in Technology transfer, franchising and licensing.

Priority, collective and certification marks, trade names and domain names

An applicant who has filed in another Paris or WTO state may claim that earlier filing date, but for marks the priority period is six months, against 12 months for patents (Article 255(3)). The claim must state the date, number and state of the earlier application and be supported by a certified copy, translated into one of Rwanda's official languages if necessary, and missing documents must be produced within 30 days of a request (Article 256). The competent authority may, on a reasoned written request made before expiry and on payment of a fee, extend time limits for correcting or completing an application, appealing, opposing or seeking cancellation for non-use by up to the original period (Article 260).

Collective marks, held by an association for its members' goods or services (Articles 213 to 217), and certification marks, which anyone meeting the owner's published standards may ask to use but which the owner may not use on its own goods (Articles 218 to 221), follow the ordinary procedure; RDB charges RWF 30,000 to apply for either, or for a trade name. Under Article 222 a name may not be used as a trade name or a second-level domain name if it is contrary to public order, misleading, or identical or similar to, or a translation of, a mark registered or well known in Rwanda. A business name reserved on RDB's company registry is therefore no defence to a mark owner, and registering a company is not the same as protecting its brand. Registering a domain name in bad faith to profit from another's name or mark is a separate criminal offence under Law N° 60/2018 of 22/8/2018 on prevention and punishment of cyber crimes, dealt with in section 7.4.

The international routes: Madrid, and why not ARIPO for marks

The Madrid Protocol has been in force for Rwanda since 17 August 2013. A Rwandan resident, a person with a real and effective establishment in Rwanda or a national of a Madrid member may file an international application with Rwanda as the office of origin (Article 223), based on an accepted Rwandan application or a Rwandan registration (Article 224); RDB verifies and certifies it and forwards it to the International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) for a transmittal fee of USD 150 (Article 225). For five years the international registration depends on the Rwandan basic application or registration, under the Madrid Protocol's dependency rule, and RDB must tell the International Bureau if the basic mark ceases to have effect in that period (Article 232).

A foreign owner may instead designate Rwanda in its own international application. The designation is examined like a national filing, published and open to opposition, and the competent authority must decide within 12 months of receipt and notify the International Bureau; a provisional refusal must be notified within the same 12 months and must explain how to seek review within three months (Articles 226 and 227). If no decision is notified within 12 months, the registration is considered accepted (Article 229), and once accepted it has the same effect as a national registration from the international registration date (Article 231). If the international registration is cancelled at the request of the office of origin, the holder may refile nationally within three months and keep its original date (Article 233).

Rwanda is a member of the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) and of its Harare Protocol on patents and designs, but WIPO's official treaty database does not list Rwanda as party to the Banjul Protocol on marks. An ARIPO trade mark application designating Rwanda should therefore not be relied on; use a national filing or a Madrid designation.

Registering a trade mark with RDB, step by step

1. Appoint an authorised agentMandatory if the applicant's residence or principal place of business is outside Rwanda (Article 251(2)). Give the agent a power of attorney and, for a company, a notarised certificate of incorporation.
2. Pay for and run a searchPay RWF 5,000 to RDB's account at the Bank of Kigali and request the search with a reproduction of the mark and its Nice classes. RDB replies within 3 working days.
3. Pay the filing feeRWF 35,000 for the first class and RWF 3,000 for each further class, paid at the Bank of Kigali, through the local agent for a foreign applicant.
4. File the applicationLetter to the Registrar General, the application form, the representation of the mark, the company certificate, the payment receipt, the search notice, identity documents and the power of attorney. Claim any six-month priority now (Articles 255 and 256).
5. Cure defects within 14 daysIf RDB notifies missing elements, supply them within 14 days; the filing date becomes the date of receipt, and an uncured application is treated as withdrawn (Article 191).
6. Publication and oppositionOn acceptance the application is published in the Official Gazette within 30 days of examination, and third parties have 60 days to oppose. Answer any opposition within 30 days of notice (Articles 193 to 195).
7. Registration and certificateThe mark is entered in the register, the certificate issues and the registration is published within 30 days (Articles 198 and 199). Diarise renewal at 10 years from filing and the three-year non-use date.