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BR Number 612
I SERIESNUMBER 52
Decree No. 50/2003
of December 24, 2003
Courtesy translation provided by WIPO © 2013
The Government approved the Industrial Property Code of Mozambique through Decree No.
18/99 of May 4, 1999, thereby enacting positive law in Mozambique on the protection of marks,
patents, industrial designs, utility models and other industrial property rights. The same Decree
gave the Central Department of Industrial Property the power to administer these rights
temporarily, while preparations are being made for a special body to be set up by the Council of
Ministers.
With the growing importance of industrial property in Mozambique, there is an urgent need to
create such a body, with the capacity to act with the necessary administrative and financial
autonomy concerning the administration of the whole system guiding the creation, granting,
maintenance, termination and transfer of industrial property rights.
In this context, pursuant to Article 153(I)(e) of the Constitution of the Republic, the Council of
Ministers hereby decrees as follows:
Article 1. The Industrial Property Institute, known by the acronym IPI, shall be established. It
shall be governed by the statutes appended hereto, which shall form an integral part of the
present Decree.
Article 2. The IPI shall be a public institution endowed with independent legal personality and
administrative and financial autonomy.
Article 3. The IPI shall be national in scope and shall come under the supervision of the Minister
for Industry and Trade
Article 4. The IPI shall be responsible for enforcing the rules governing industrial property rights,
taking into consideration the public interest and the technological and economic development of
Mozambique.
Article 5. In discharging these responsibilities, the IPI shall be competent:
a) to propose special policies on industrial property and to monitor the implementation of the
measures arising from these policies;
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Translator’s Note: Official Gazette (Bulletin of the Republic).
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