On 27 April 2021 the High Court of Tanzania, in Godrej Consume Products Limited v Target International (T) Limited (Commercial Case No 60/2019), once again re-affirmed its own competence to entertain trademark cases. This decision comes 21 years after the decision in Kibo Match Group Limited v Mohamed Enterprises (T) Limited (Civil Case No 6/1999 (unreported)), in which the Commercial Court’s jurisdiction to entertain trademark disputes was questioned for the first time.

This is an important decision which serves to clarify the distinctions between the role played by the Commercial Court and that played by the Office of the Chief Inspector of Merchandise Marks. It is hoped that the Godrej case will now have settled the question of the jurisdiction of the Commercial Court in trademark disputes.

This article first appeared on WTR Daily, part of World Trademark Review in July 2021.