Tea and coffee farmers to benefit from trademark Bill

Tea and coffee farmers are likely to earn more if a Bill that seeks to trademark the products as uniquely Kenyan becomes law, proponents of the process say.

The Industrialisation ministry is currently reviewing the Geographical Indications Bill that provides a legal framework for safeguarding products like tea, coffee, and handicraft by expressly attributing them to their Kenyan origin.

“The Bill will help certify Kenyan products and market them exclusively in the speciality market,” said Henry Mutai, the managing director of the Kenya Industrial Property Institute (Kipi).

The proposed statute will for the first time provide for geographical indication — naming of products based on place of origin to give it a premium value — a strategy that will help distinguish Kenyan goods from those of other countries.

The likely scenarios once the Bill is enacted include marketing of origin-specific Kenyan exports such as Kericho tea, Mt Kenya coffee, Maasai jewellery, and Kisii soapstone carvings.

Addressing participants at a forum to mark this year’s World Intellectual Property day, Dr Mutai said Kipi was promoting public awareness to harness the country’s intellectual property opportunities in trademarks, utility models, patents and industrial designs to fuel economic development.

“A geographical indication of products from Kenya legally protects the valuable reputation associated with them. It assures consumers of legitimate products,” said Josephine Kogweno-Mbori, a partner at Sichangi advocates.

The draft Geographical Indications Bill proposes that producers and regulatory firms can apply to be custodians of a location specific trademark.

Thus, the Kenya Tea Development Agency may apply to register tea variety trademarks.

Certification trademark of Kenyan products will avoid situations where foreign parties attempt to register such goods in other countries.