Patent registration in Kenya. Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country in Eastern Africa. Kenya is a member of the United Nations, Commonwealth of Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, COMESA, International Criminal Court, and other international organizations. Kenya’s economy is the largest in eastern and central Africa, with Nairobi serving as a major regional commercial hub. Accordingly, many businesses want to enter this market and one of the most important preparations a business needs to take before expanding to this country is to learn the procedure of patent registration in Kenya.
Patent in Kenya
In Kenya, a patent is temporary ownership of an invention given by the Government to the patentee. During the patent’s term, the patentee will have the right to exclude third-party actions related to the protected subject such as manufacture, commercialization, use, and others.
To protect an invention through patenting means to prevent its unauthorized exploitation by competitors who were not involved in nor bore the invention’s research and development costs.
To be patentable in this country, an invention must meet the requirements of novelty, inventiveness, and industrial applicability.
However, the law of Kenya does provide for a 12 months grace period. This means that if the subject of the patent application is disclosed publicly within 12 months from the filing date, the application will still be considered valid.
The disclosure might be resulted from:
– Applicant or his/her predecessor in title;
– An evident abuse by a third party in relation to the applicant or his/her predecessor in title.
Necessary documents for patent registration in Kenya
The necessary documents for patent registration in Kenya include:
- The request to grant a patent (patent application);
- Detailed information on the applicant(s) including the applicant’s and inventor’s names, addresses, citizenships, etc.;
- A description of the invention;
- A signed and stamped power of attorney by the applicant(s);
- A copy of the amendments (if any);
- Priority documents (if any).
- Other required documents.
The procedure for patent registration in Kenya
To obtain a patent in Kenya, the applicant needs to file their patent application to the IP Office of Kenya – Kenya Industrial Property Institute (KIPI).
The KIPI is responsible for examining and granting patents in Kenya.
After receiving the patent application, the examiners at the KIPI will conduct a formality and substantive examinations to check if the patent application complies with the regulations of the law and is patentable.
The formality examination is conducted automatically. However, the request for the substantive examination must be submitted within 3 years from the filing date.
In case of failure to request the substantive examination within this term, the application will be considered abandoned.
Beside the traditional registration method, the applicant may also consider the use of the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) to register the protection of their invention in this country. This is a regional intergovernmental organization mandated to grant patents on behalf of its member states. Currently ARIPO has a membership of 16 African countries including Kenya.
Grant and maintenance
If there are no problems occurred or detected, the patent application will be registered and the applicant will receive the patent.
However, it should be noted that the applicant needs to pay the grant fee to the Patent Office before the patent is granted.
Patents in Kenya are valid for 20 years from the filing date.
Annual maintenance fees should be paid in advance to the anniversary of the filing date which is also the due date.
Late payment is possible within a grace period of 6 months after the due date upon payment of the corresponding late filing penalty.
You can see a list of Kenya IP firms here.