Editor, It is not really the responsibility of the RDB to ascertain what copyrights and trademarks are registered by which companies across the world. The RDB does not have resources to undertake such a prohibitively expensive exercise, nor should it have that responsibility even if it had the requisite resources. It is rather the responsibility of the trademark/copyright holder to ensure its trademarks and copyrights are appropriately protected in the markets in which it has an interest, even before it has any operations there. By the way, would this issue have risen had the Azania trademark-holder in Rwanda have been any other company than Bakhresa’s fellow Tanzanian rival? Bottom line: it isn’t RDB’s business to refuse an applicant’s request to register a trademark if no other entity owns that trademark in Rwanda. It is the responsibility of the company wishing to protect its trademarks and copyrights in markets it is interested in expanding operations to (including merely through exports there) to register them in that country before anybody else preempts them. Before Bakhresa registered the name ‘Azania’ with the Registrar of companies and titles at the RDB, no company owned that trademark in Rwanda. The Registrar, therefore, had no reason to reject the application. Mwene Kalinda Reaction to a letter to the editor titled ‘RDB needs to do more to curtail unfair competition’ (The New Times, Monday, January 19)
