26th April 2020 marks this year’s World Intellectual Property (IP) Day. In celebrating this year’s theme, “Innovate for a Green Future”, we look at the strides made by Kenya towards the promotion of Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) as well as the role of IP in building a green future.
Recently, Kenya begun the drafting process for the IP Office of Kenya Act, 2020 (“IP Bill”). The IP Bill seeks to consolidate some of the laws relating to IP in Kenya and to establish the IP Office of Kenya. This is pursuant to the Report of the Presidential Taskforce on Parastatal Reforms, 2013 (“the Report”), which recommended the merger of the Anti-Counterfeit Authority (“ACA”), the Kenya Copyright Board (“KECOBO”) and the Kenya Industrial Property Institute (“KIPI”) into the Intellectual Property Office of Kenya.
The merger of these institutions seeks to eliminate the bottlenecks in the promotion and protection of IPRs by ensuring that the registration, protection and enforcement of IPRs is executed under one body.
In celebration of this achievement, it is important to consider the role of IP towards the creation of a green future including:
- the use of trademarks (including certification marks) to promote the growth of organisations whose business practices encourage environmental sustainability;
- the use of patents, utility models and industrial designs to create eco-friendly technologies and products;
- the use of copyright to protect creative solutions towards a greener future; and
- the use of plant breeders’ rights to ensure global food security.
Therefore, in drafting the IP Bill, it is important that the role of innovation and creativity in the creation of a green future is considered.
Happy World Intellectual Property Day!
The Intellectual Property Bill can be found here
