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Kenya is a signatory to the Paris Convention, the Berne Convention, the elegantly named African Regional Industrial Property Organization (ARIPO) Protocol on Patents and Industrial Designs Within the Framework of the African Regional Industrial Property Organization (ARIPO), the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Right and the Madrid Agreement and Protocol. Perhaps not the most significant treaty, but the Nairobi Treaty on the Protection of the Olympic Symbol cannot pass without mention.
Statutory protection of intellectual property rights in Kenya is afforded as follows:
i) Industrial Property
Patents:
• The Industrial Property Act of 2001.
• Patents and Designs (Convention Countries) Order of 1971.
• The Industrial Property Regulations of 2002.
Trade Marks:
• The Trade Marks Act, as amended, 2002.
• The Trade Marks Rules, L.N. 575/1956, 454/1959 (revised edition
1962),
as amended by L.N. Nos. 44 of 1970, 138 of 1971, 131 of 1975, 249 of 1988
and in 1994.
Industrial Designs:
• The Industrial Property Act of 2001, as above, under Patents.
• Patents and Designs (Convention Countries) Order of 1971, as above,
under Patents.
ii) Copyright
• Copyright Act cap. 130 of the Laws of Kenya as last amended by
the Copyright (Amendment) Act, October 1995.
• Draft Copyright Bill of 2001, submitted to Parliament.
iii) Other Protections
Appellations of Origin / Geographical Indications / Indications of Source:
• The Trade Descriptions Act, cap. 505, No.
27 of 1962 (revised edition 1963).
• Draft Geographical Indiciations Bill of January 2001, not yet
in force.
Layout Designs (Topographics) of Integrated Circuits:
• Draft Layout-Designs of Integrated Circuits
Bill of 2001, pending.
Employees’ Inventions:
• The Industrial Property Act of 1989 (in
force in February 1990) (to be amended), as above, under Patents.
Science and Technology:
• The Science and Technology Act, Chapter
250, 3 of 1977, L.N. 232/1977, 7 of 1979,
as amended by Statute Law (Repeal and Miscellaneous Amendment Act) of
1980.
Plant Variety Protection
• The Seed and Plant Varieties Act, cap. 326,
in force since 1977, as amended in 1991.
Esp@cenet
covers the following in
worldwide patents:
(Country, Code, Bibliographic Data, Facsimile Images)
African Intellectual Property Organisation,
OA, 1966, from beginning
African Regional Industrial Property Organisation, AP, all from beginning
Kenya, KE, 1975, no
This site is edited by
Millicent Ligare Angaya, Advocate