Cabinet has approved submitting amended intellectual property regulations to Parliament, providing for qualified specialists who are not lawyers to act as agents in patent matters within their fields.

According to the Cabinet statement, the Intellectual Property Act, No. 36 of 2003, provides a legal framework for recognising intellectual property agents and regulating their functions.

Existing regulations allow both lawyers and suitably qualified non-lawyer individuals and corporate entities to be recognised as intellectual property agents.

The latest amendment concerns Regulation 58 of the Intellectual Property Regulations No. 1 of 2006.

It provides for specialists with relevant higher education qualifications, including a full degree in a field such as engineering or science, to act as agents for patents relating to their areas of expertise.

The amendment was published in Extraordinary Gazette No. 2500/15 dated 3 August 2026.

The Minister of Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Cooperative Development submitted the proposal to seek parliamentary approval.