Malawi: registering a trademark costs an estimated US$857 for one class, plus US$707 for each further class. Malawi is a member of the Madrid System, so a trademark can be filed with its office directly or extended to Malawi through an international registration. It can also be protected through an ARIPO application that designates Malawi. Malawi is a leading import market for textiles (class 24) and paper and printed matter (class 16).
Trademark protection in Malawi can also be obtained through ARIPO: one ARIPO application that designates Malawi and other member states. The filing figures on this page count only applications filed directly with Malawi's own office.
Figures by trademark class count branded goods only: raw commodities that are traded mostly without brands - such as gold bars, fuel, bulk chemicals, grain and fabric by the metre - are left out. Hong Kong, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates are left out of the rankings, as much of their trade is re-exported.
Goods where Malawi is among the world's 3 largest exporters, has at least 15% of world exports, or that make up at least 25% of its own exports - of at least US$500m a year.
Our estimate is about US$857 for one class, from filing to registration: about US$290 in official fees and about US$567 in professional (law firm) fees. Each further class adds about US$707. Responses to office actions and oppositions are not included. These are estimates only: the actual cost depends on the law firm and the application. Request a quote from a law firm on this site for an exact price.
Malawi is a member of the Madrid System, so a trademark can be filed with its office directly or extended to Malawi through an international registration. Designating Malawi costs WIPO's standard complementary fee of CHF 100 (about US$120); beyond three classes WIPO also charges a supplementary fee per class, on top of its basic fee for the international application. It can also be protected through an ARIPO application that designates Malawi.
Malawi's 7 largest import markets by trademark class are vehicles (class 12, US$236m), electronics and software (class 9, US$220m), machines (class 7, US$216m), pharmaceuticals (class 5, US$157m), cosmetics and cleaning (class 3, US$118m), paper and printed matter (class 16, US$97m) and textiles (class 24, US$52m). Within its region, it stands out for textiles (#7 in Sub-Saharan Africa). Imports are growing fastest for textiles (154% a year), vehicles (51% a year) and machines (38% a year).
Malawi's exports of goods came to US$1.0bn in 2024. Its 2 largest exports were unmanufactured tobacco (US$577m, 58% of its exports, #8 in the world) and dried pulses (US$103m, 10% of its exports, #24 in the world). Where goods are made and exported, copies are often made too: a registered trademark there lets you act against counterfeits at the source, including with the help of customs.
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Find the best countries for your trademarkTrade: imports and exports of each trademark class's branded goods. Rankings compare countries' trade in those goods, without the re-export hubs. Costs are estimates.