Employees of the Kenya Industrial Property Industry (Kipi) have been barred from registering or revoking trademarks, patents, and industrial designs without the express approval of the agency’s board of directors.
The Ministry of Investments, Trade, and Industry said it had been notified that staff of Kipi are processing and registering trademarks, patents, and industrial designs without involving the board or its technical committee.
“That usurps the role of the board, and undermines the integrity of the process,” Juma Mukhwana, Industry PS, said in a letter dated September 30, 2025.
“It is directed that from the date of this letter, no trademarks, patents, and industrial designs can be registered, revoked, and/or reviewed without approval of the board of Kipi.”
In a letter to Kipi Managing Director John Onyango, Dr Mukhwana said all staff work for the board and must submit to the overall oversight and guidance of the board during their work.
He copied the letter to Trade Cabinet Secretary Lee Kinyanjui and Head of Public Service Felix Koskei.
Kipi has the mandate to register patents, which are exclusive rights granted for an invention. According to the Kipi website, an invention is defined as a solution to a specific problem in the field of technology.
The agency also defines a trademark as a sign which serves to distinguish the goods and services of an industrial or commercial enterprise or a group of such enterprises.
The Industrial Property Act 2001 defines an industrial design as any composition of lines or colours or any three-dimensional form, whether or not associated with lines or colours.
Kipi was established in May 2002 after the Industrial Property Act 2001 came into effect. Its mandate is derived from the Industrial Property Act and the Trade Marks Act and is charged with promoting inventive and innovative activities and facilitating the acquisition of technology through registration and regulation of patents, utility models, technovations, industrial designs, and trademarks.
Kenya is presently racing to develop its first national intellectual property policy in a bid to protect innovators, curb counterfeit trade, and attract investors into the country’s science and technology ecosystem.
The Kenya National Innovation Agency says the draft IP policy, currently at the stage of public participation, could be presented to Cabinet and Parliament for adoption before the end of the first quarter of 2026 amid pressure from the US.
