Handbook on Industrial and Intellectual Property Laws in Zimbabwe

The protection of Industrial and intellectual property rights has been marginalised in Zimbabwe. This has been as a result of firstly, the fact that many innovators and rights holders are unaware of the tools to protect their works, secondly; the laws in place in Zimbabwe have not been fully recognised and implemented, thus many innovators tend to see no reason why they should seek to protect their innovations and works, and finally, the economic hardships that have hit the country for over a decade now have caused many creators of works losing hope of producing works of substance that are eligible for protection due to instances of corruption, injustice and unfairness in as much their rights are concerned. The instances of corruption and injustice tend to happen on registration and enforcement of the rights where those who should implement the law are given bribes to let the perpetrators go scot free (especially in the music industry). This book also seeks to explain the fields of intellectual property and lay out the means and ways through which harm can be averted, harm that results from infringement of intellectual property rights through counterfeiting, piracy and passing off.