Criminal Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights in Zimbabwe

Abstract

In line with the provisions of international treaties such as TRIPS, there have been some calls for the robust use of criminal law in the enforcement of intellectual property (IP) infringement cases. There is a realisation that certain conduct done by infringers go beyond the ordinary infringement of rights hence public law has to intervene in such cases. This is because acts such as counterfeiting have a public law dimension in that they may cause a threat to public health and the wellbeing of the public generally if left unchecked by criminal law. In Zimbabwe, a number of statutes governing various branches of IP provide criminal penalties for certain conduct done willfully. The general view is that these criminal provisions do not go far enough as to be deterrent to would be IP infringers. More deterrent penalties are necessary so as to make infringing activities unrewarding and dangerous to the perpetrators. A call is made to strengthen the criminal penalties provided for counterfeiting and acts of copyright piracy.