Patent, trade mark fees cut
Namibia has simplified and reduced the fees charged for registering patents, designs and trade marks, under amended regulations signed by the minister of industries, Modestus Amutse.
The changes, gazetted on 1 July, amend the Industrial Property Regulations of 2018, made under the Industrial Property Act of 2012.
A patent application, including registration and publication, now costs N$1,500. A utility model application costs N$1,200.
Design registration fees have also been consolidated. A single design application, including publication and the certificate of registration, now costs N$450, with additional designs in a multiple application charged at N$50 each.
Trade mark applicants will pay N$1,200 for registration in one class, and N$480 for each additional class.
Several fee items tied to separate publication and certificate charges have been scrapped, as those costs are folded into the new consolidated application fees.
The amendment also changes how the Registrar of Companies, Patents and Trade Marks handles the process of granting or refusing a patent. Regulation 47, which previously governed the restoration of lapsed patents, has been rewritten to require the Registrar to notify applicants in writing of a decision to grant or refuse a patent, attaching the search and examination report on which the decision is based.
A separate change ties the issuing of a design registration certificate directly to payment of the prescribed application fee, in line with section 105 of the Act.
The amendments took effect on 1 July 2026.
