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Written by : Ralph Mohaupt |
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today we discuss trademark infringement and protection in kenya a trademark identifies the source of goods and services it distinguishes a brand as being particular to a business the different types of trademarks for instance certification trademarks service marks collective trademark cities a wide number 3d object a logo or a combination of these preceding elements are all examples of trademarks that can be registered in kenya what is the governing trademark law in kenya the main law governing trademarks is the trademarks act cap 506 of the laws of kenya and is also party to the repo madrid convention what's the value of trademarks what kind of protection do trademarks afford your business in a nutshell trademarks prevent economic damage to your business trademarks protect the goodwill and the reputation of your business a trademark avoids confusion in your customers when it comes to competing goods and services by making it clear to customers that indeed you and not anyone else is a source of goods and services and that they can indeed rely on your trademark as a reliable signifier of your brand as the actual source of certain goods and services it's also the basis to protect your goods and services from low quality counterfeits as only the registered owner brand can provide goods and services as being tied to a particular mark what is the trademark registration procedure in kenya the first thing you need to do is to conduct a trademark search before you begin the application process only once you get the preliminary advice from the kenya industrial property institute or qp that indeed the search shows that the mark has no registered proprietor can you now proceed to lodge the trademark application forms once you receive these search results showing the mark is not registered you can go ahead to prepare the requisite statutory forms under the trademarks act of kenya when it comes to filing the application you're strongly advised to have a trademark agent who in kenya is a lawyer admitted as an advocate of the high court to prepare and lodge the applications at qp so you can avoid making mistakes that will prove costly even as far as denying the envisaged trademark protection in good time a lawyer will further advise you on the best trademark protection coverage you can get especially in terms of description of goods and services and the applicable trademark classes what is the trademark registration procedure at wipo or now once you have the basic registration of the marks in kenya and your business is operating beyond kenya's borders that is internationally or multinationally you may not want to protect your brand in these in these foreign markets where the business is operating to do this you can easily make an application via repo or a naripo contracting state or other regional specialized international organizations protecting ip through these wipo nrepo offices the application will be presented to the national ip offices of particular markets and subsequently your trademark will be protected in the specified countries you're strongly advised to reach out to a lawyer as well on this issue to guide you on international trademark applications to avoid immense costs what is trademark infringement the trademark owned by a business is infringed by any person who not being the proprietor of the trade or registered user by way of permitted use and a licensing agreement uses a mark identical with or nearly resembling yours to deceive or cause confusion in the course of trade or in the provision of any services in respect of which this trademark is registered another important point to note is that under section 15a of the trademarks act the registrar of trademarks will not register an unregistered mark with an unconnected proprietor where this mark is well known globally or nationally whether or not the mark owner is in kenya or not operating in kenya there are various legal issues which are pertaining to this under the prairie convention so what happens if you don't on the mark which is being infringed upon meaning you have not yet registered it well you may have no cause of action for breach of trademark or trademark infringement another trademarks act you can still see krikos by bringing a civil suit for the thought of passing off whereby you sue the defendant for presenting his goods and services as being your goods and services or purporting to connect your goods and services to those that the defendant provides railing the reputation of your own business and it protects the goodwill of your business from misrepresentation and misassociation so what are the remedies in trademark infringement or passing of actions in kenya the most valuable remedy you would want is an injunction file and a certificate of urgency you want to hold the damage to your business's brand and you would also seek a permanent injunction secondly you would seek to obtain damages for the harm already caused to your brand korean company advocates is a law firm in nairobi kenya we provide legal service in ip we work with individual mac owners as well as global ip companies in registration of ip and trademarks in kenya
Thanks for your comment Hank Filkey, have a nice day.
- Ralph Mohaupt, Staff Member
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Thanks Nikki your participation is very much appreciated
- Ralph Mohaupt
About the author
I've studied sociology of literature at University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio and I am an expert in tourism geography. I usually feel hopeful. My previous job was props and lighting technicians I held this position for 8 years, I love talking about air hockey and skiing. Huge fan of Shawn Mendes I practice rope jumping and collect cards.
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