Category Archives: Intellectual Property

Celebrating Trailblazing Kenyan Women in Innovation and Creativity: World Intellectual Property Day 2018

25 Wednesday Apr 2018

Posted by in CIPIT Insights, CIPIT news, Intellectual Property

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The theme for this year’s World Intellectual Property (WIP) Day on 26 April is ‘Powering change: Women in innovation and creativity’. According to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), this year’s WIP Day campaign ‘celebrates the brilliance, ingenuity, curiosity and courage of the women who are driving change in our world and shaping our common future.’ The UN specialised agency in charge of intellectual property (IP) urges its member states ‘to reflect on ways to ensure that increasing numbers of women and girls across the globe engage in innovation and creativity, and why this is so important.’ In Kenya, many observers note that women remain significantly underrepresented in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) despite the country’s significant progress in achieving gender parity in education.

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WIPO Setting Up External Offices in Africa – What to Expect

05 Friday Jan 2018

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On 14 December 2017, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Director General Francis Gurry and Ambassador Audu Ayinla Kadiri, Permanent Representative of Nigeria to the United Nations and other International Organizations in Geneva (pictured above), signed an agreement establishing a WIPO External Office in Nigeria. Headquartered in Switzerland since 1967, WIPO is a self-funding agency of the United Nations, with 191 member states. WIPO is the global forum for intellectual property (IP) services, policy, information and cooperation. WIPO’s network of External Offices (currently in Brazil, China, Japan, Russia and Singapore) are intended to provide cost-effective support services in relation to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), Madrid and Hague systems; arbitration and mediation; collective management; and development and capacity building. In a fast-changing world, WIPO reckons that its External Offices are an increasingly important part of the Organisation’s enhanced engagement with its Member States, partners and stakeholders, on the ground, to lead the development of a balanced and effective international IP system that enables innovation and creativity for the benefit of all.

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Intellectual Property Collateralisation in the Age of the Movable Property Security Rights Act: The Case of Nakumatt Supermarkets

04 Thursday Jan 2018

Posted by in CIPIT Insights, Intellectual Property, Trademark

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By Victor B. Nzomo & Perpetua N. Mwangi**

Nakumatt Holdings Limited (Nakumatt) is the proprietor of the largest supermarket retail chain in East and Central Africa. According to Superbrands, Nakumatt is one of the leading brands in East Africa with branches in Kenya Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda. However the biggest story of 2017 has been the financial woes of Nakumatt with the retail chain facing liquidation over unpaid debts totaling over Sh30 billion. From an intellectual property (IP) perspective, Nakumatt’s brand power is based on its portfolio of over 23 registered trade marks including word marks, logos and slogans all currently subsisting on the Register of Trade Marks. This blogpost departs from the premise that the recent enactment of the Movable Property Security Rights Act was envisaged to allow individuals or businesses like Nakumatt to leverage their IP assets to access much-needed financing.

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E-Commerce and the Law in Kenya: Domain Names, Trade Marks and Dispute Resolution

01 Monday Jan 2018

Posted by in CIPIT Insights, E-Commerce and the Law, Information Technology, Intellectual Property

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This semester, we kick off a brand new course for final year undergraduate law students on e-commerce and the law. This course aims at explaining the legal challenges that are posed by electronic commerce. We shall also contextualise and problematise on-going legal/policy developments in Kenya to regulate electronic commerce. In this blogpost, we explore the implications of the registration of domain names for trade marks. In the context of e-commerce, we examine the existing online dispute resolution mechanisms, and in particular the rules created by ICANN and KENIC for online dispute resolution of issues relating to domain-name registration.

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Internet Governance Forum 2017 Day 2

19 Tuesday Dec 2017

Posted by in CIPIT Insights, Information Technology, Intellectual Property

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A full day of #IGF2017 began with a content-packed session on ‘Emerging Challenges for Data Protection in Latin American Countries’. As Kenya continues to grapple with the development of a stand-alone legal framework for data protection, the experiences from Latin American may provide some insights to guide future work in this area.

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Intellectual Property in Kenya: Social Media Pros and Cons

01 Wednesday Nov 2017

Posted by in CIPIT Insights, Intellectual Property, Social Media and the Law

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Last semester I spoke to the 3rd Year Strathmore Law Class on the topic of Social Media. Being an intellectual property (IP) law class, I divided up my presentation into several key areas. Firstly, social media as the subject matter of IP, which was the focus of a previous blogpost here. Secondly, IP in Social Media with a focus on the question of intermediary liability was discussed here. Finally we concluded by considering IP advantages and disadvantages of social media before concluding by looking at two case studies from Kenya. This third point will be the focus of this blogpost.

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Inside the CMO – PERAK – KAHC Deal on Tariff for Hotels, Bars and Restaurants Part 4

01 Wednesday Nov 2017

Posted by in CIPIT Insights, Collective Management Organisations, Copyright, Intellectual Property

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The Copyright Act of 2001 is an Act of Parliament to make provision for copyright in literary, musical and artistic works, audio-visual works, sound recordings, broadcasts. The Act also establishes Kenya Copyright Board (KECOBO), a state corporation under the Office of the Attorney General and Department of Justice (AG). Principally the Act empowers KECOBO to license and supervise the activities of collecting societies, also known as Collective Management Organisations (CMOs). Anybody who wants to use music (subject to copyright) in public needs a licence to do so. The licence fee, or royalty, depends on the type of use. Royalty rates are set in tariffs, which are determined by CMOs.

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Intellectual Property in Kenya: Social Media and Intermediary Liability

01 Sunday Oct 2017

Posted by in CIPIT Insights, Intellectual Property, Social Media and the Law

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This semester I spoke to the 3rd Year Strathmore Law Class on the topic of Social Media. Being an intellectual property law class, I divided up my presentation into three key areas. Firstly, social media as the subject matter of IP, which was the focus of a previous blogpost here. In this post, we consider IP in Social Media with a focus on the question of intermediary liability. Continue reading →

East African Community Intellectual Property Rights Regime Study Report by KAM

01 Sunday Oct 2017

Posted by in CIPIT Insights, Counterfeits, Intellectual Property

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In 2016, Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) with support from TradeMark East Africa commissioned a study on intellectual property (IP) rights with a specific focus on the legal framework for trade marks and anti-counterfeiting within the East African Community (EAC) region. The study’s main objective was to propose an enforceable legal framework which effectively combats the production, importation or exportation and distribution of counterfeit or illicit goods in general within the EAC region. The study was intended to take stock of the latest IP rights regime within the EAC region, highlight challenges within the current regimes and propose appropriate measures to address these challenges in order to enhance integration within the EAC region. The study was completed in 2017 and was launched during an interagency forum organised by Anti-Counterfeit Agency (ACA) in collaboration with KAM.

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Launch of Master of Laws in Intellectual Property with CIPIT

29 Friday Sep 2017

Posted by in CIPIT Insights, CIPIT news, Intellectual Property

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Editor’s Note: In case you missed it, the full video of the Master of Laws (LLM) launch ceremeny at Strathmore Law School is available on YouTube here.

Today, 29 September 2017 marked the launch of the Strathmore University Master of Laws (LLM) programme at a colourful evening ceremony at the Sir Thomas More Building, Madaraka Estate Campus at Strathmore Law School. The launch of LLM at Strathmore Law School (SLS) is the culmination of several years of hard work and dedication. CIPIT was in charge of the Intellectual Property (IP) law specialisation of the LLM programme. Applications for the LLM are now open and will close on 15 December 2017 for those seeking to start the programme in January 2018.

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