Apply by E-Mail

1. Prepare all the required supporting documents for your application then visit the Bank of Kigali or any of its branches to pay the registration fee by depositing the prescribed amount to the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) account and obtain the payment slip
2. Draft an application letter addressed to the Register General of the RBD requesting a Patent Rights Registration Certificate
3. Scan all the required document clearly including the registration fees payment receipt and send them to the RDB via email through this address: info@rdb.rw
4. After receiving a complete application, the Intellectual Property (IP) unit will starts the formal examination of the patent application. This step may take 3 to 6 months before it is complete. Once the examination concludes that the application is complete, you will be issued an acceptance notice through your email address or you can visit the RDB office IP unit to obtain the acceptance notice in person or through a representative.
   • NOTE: An acceptance notice informs you of whether the formal examination of the patent application was successful which means the application can now go through a substantive examination by a specialized institution
5. The specialized institution notifies the IP unit of the applicable fee to be paid by you the applicant, where applicable.
6. Once the fee has been determined and communicated to the IP unit, you will be notified and requested to come pick the letter with mention of the amount and pay the substantive examination fee at the bank and obtain the payment receipt
7. After payment, submit the receipt to the IP unit which will transfer it to the institution in charge of the substantive examination.
8. An examination report is produced at the end of the substantive examination and sent to you via your email address or you or your representative can collect it in person at the RDB office IP unit. Note that it may be positive in which case the intellectual property unit will give you a positive examination report and when the report is negative, it provides expert guidance to review the application.
9. With a positive report, pay the patent publication fee at the bank and obtain the payment receipt
10. After payment you or your representative will be notified once the certificate is ready for collection at the IP division
11. Visit the RDB office IP unit, present the required documents and obtain the patent rights registration certificate.
    

NOTE: Applicants who do not reside in Rwanda must be represented by an authorized industrial property agent in Rwanda.

• Application letter
• Description of Invention
• Abstract
• Drawings And Model samples
• Journal receipt notice
• Identification documents
• Power of attorney for representatives
• Payment receipts

RWANDA DEVELOPMENT BOARD
KG 220 St, Kigali P.O Box 6239
Tel: 1415 / +250 727 775 170
Email: info@rdb.rw, investorfeedback@rdb.rw
Website:RDB

• All new inventions are eligible for registration

• Total estimated cost is RWF 30,000

Please contact the relevant authority for more fees details

• The certificate is valid for one year and it’s subject to renewals at the end of this period

• Application form (Sample)

• Business Procedures

• Within one year

Videos explaining the procedure or to fill the applications.
Attach videos using the following tag <&video type='website'>video ID|width|height<&/video&> from external websites.
Please remove the '&' inside the tags during implementation.
Website = allocine, blip, dailymotion, facebook, gametrailers, googlevideo, html5, metacafe, myspace, revver,
sevenload, viddler, vimeo, youku, youtube
width = 560, height = 340, Video ID = Can be obtained from the URL of webpage where the video is displayed.
e.g In the following url 'http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0US7oR_t3M' Video ID is 'Y0US7oR_t3M'.

An acceptance notice informs you of whether the formal examination of the patent application was successful which means the application can now go through a substantive examination by a specialized institution:

• At national level: National Industrial Research and Development Agency (NIRDA)
• At regional level: African Regional Intellectual Property Organisation (ARIPO)
• At international level: World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)

• Name
• Address
• Contact details
• Patent description

• This documents prove the an invention is registered and belongs to you the innovator

Enter other information which might help

Please explain what are other uses of obtaining this document/certificate.
e.g. Birth Certificate can be used as proof of identity.

• RDB

More information which might help people.