Effort geared to heightening existing collaboration in public outreach, education and collaboration in research and innovation.

Nairobi, October 12, 2022.

The Anti-Counterfeit Authority and the Kenya Industrial Property Institute today announced renewed efforts in collaboration to promote and protect intellectual property rights in the country. In a meeting attended by Dr Robi Njoroge Mbugua and Mr. John Onyango, the Acting Managing Director, the institutions agreed to coordinate in public and private sector efforts to combat intellectual property theft in the country.

The KIPI and the ACA will implement an aggressive multi-layered strategy to strengthen the IP Kenyan ecosystem by conducting joint training events, educating consumers on the dangers of buying counterfeit goods and liaison in implementation of the IPR Recordation enforcement system.

“For Intellectual Property to gain legal protection in Kenya, it must have been registered by KIPI or recognized by Kenya Copyright Board for Copyrights. The overall IPR protection is offered by ACA,” said KIPI Acting Managing Director John Onyango. “Because of this inter-linkage, our partnership with the ACA is meant to build a joint effort in IP protection.”

Dr. Robi Mbigua, the ACA’s Executive Director added that, “IP protection needs a collaborative approach by relevant government institutions since none of the many agencies have the capacity to handle it on their own. We need to expand our partnerships by strengthening cooperation and coordination to protect our innovators, industries and consumers form IP theft.”

Kenya like any other country in the world is affected by trade in counterfeit goods and associated ills of IP theft. A research by the Anti-Counterfeit Authority revealed that counterfeiting business in Kenya is worth Kshs. 75-100 billion annually and the Kenyan government loses about US$84 million in tax revenue. These revenues could have been used by the government in provision of public hoods like public health care, infrastructure, education and meeting other development agendas.

The Kenyan Government in response to this growing threat has put in place a robust legal framework and made several policy and institutional reforms to combat this vice. Key among the reforms was the formation of the Multi-Agency team for combating illicit trade in July 2018, unveiling of the National Action Plan and Implementation Framework to Combat Illicit Trade in Kenya. 

To date, these efforts have born major milestones in the fight against illicit trade, through a One-Government coordinated approach in enforcement and public outreach activities among other areas.