#ipkenya Weekly Dozen: 24/08

• Kofi Annan 1938 – 2018 [UN News]
• TIDAL and MTN Uganda partner to bring music streaming to African customers [Official]
• Unlocking Disruptive Technologies and Local Knowledge for Climate Resilience [CIF]
• How State intervention could boost the fortunes of Kenya’s pharmaceutical sector [Captain Obvious]
• Court Stops DStv in Nigeria [tekedia]
• Rwandans launch first delivery drones in Africa [Ventures Africa]
• Kenya: Anti-Counterfeit Agency digitizes operations to tame rogue business practices [Standard]
• South Africa: Where does graffiti stand when it comes to copyright? [BIZCommunity]
• IIPA Claims That South Africa’s Copyright Reform Bill Would Make The Country Ineligible For AGOA Benefits [Infojustice]
• Kenyan Banks Seek Regulatory Approval to Use Blockchain Tech [Bloomberg]
• Postdoctoral Research Fellowship: DST/NRF SARChI Research Chair: Intellectual Property, Innovation & Development [IP Unit]
• Judges Wanted: Strathmore Law School ICT Moot 2018 [Volunteer Here]

For more news stories and developments, please check out #ipkenya on twitter and feel free to share any other IP/ICT-related items that you may come across.

Have a great week-end!

#ipkenya Weekly Dozen: 20/07

• Professor Calestous Juma Memorial Lecture: Public Policy Options for Science and Technology in Africa [Hashtag]
• CBD and ITPGRFA commit to enhanced cooperation on access and benefit-sharing of genetic resources [Official]
• Global Innovation Divide: Can Investment In Innovation Bridge The Gap? [IPW]
• Kenya is seizing the opportunity to protect individuals and their data [Privacy International]
• Tobacco Plain Packaging: An oncoming trademark dispute in South Africa? [UCT IP Unit]
• SAMPRA takes on SABC, IMPRA over needletime payout [MiA]
• Power, Profit and Sport: The Real Legacy of the Football World Cup [Nakueira]
• PAIPO – Concerns From A Brand Holder’s Perspective [africadotcom]
• South Africa: Software Developers Pasop/Beware/Qaphela/Hlokomela [A+ Bunch of Lawyers]
• Universal Music Launches Nigerian Division [Variety]
• Big Pharma and Predatory Pricing of Birth Control [Bhekisisa]
• Innovation Prize for Africa 2018: Investing in Inclusive Innovation Ecosystems [ICYMI]

For more news stories and developments, please check out #ipkenya on twitter and feel free to share any other intellectual property-related items that you may come across.

Have a great week-end!

Through the Roof: Iron Sheet Firm Sues for Trade Mark, Industrial Design Infringement

 

In what could be a precedent-setting case for the roofing products market, a leading iron sheet manufacturer is claiming both trade mark and industrial design protection for two of its roofing brands against a smaller rival company. The recently reported ruling in Royal Mabati Factory Limited v Imarisha Mabati Limited [2018] eKLR was the courts’ first attempt to deal with industrial property protection for corrugated iron sheets widely used as roofing material known in Kiswahili as ‘mabati’. Although not clearly distinguishing between the aspects of industrial design and trade mark protection, the court was prepared to rule in favour of Royal and grant its application for a temporary injunction against Imarisha.

Weaves Fly in Trade Mark Fight Between Darling and Angels Hair

 

In Kenya’s cut-throat hair business, three competitors (the purveyors of hair extensions branded ‘Darling’, ‘Angels Hair’ and ‘Sistar’ respectively) have distinguished themselves through aggressive marketing and strategic litigation over their brands. In a previous blogpost here, we highlighted an interesting High Court case where the Sistar hair maker filed a trade mark infringement suit against both its rivals, Style Industries (of the ‘Darling’ fame) and Sana Industries, known for ‘Angels Hair’.

In this latest installment, we focus on the recently reported High Court ruling in Style Industries Limited v Sana Industries Co. Limited [2018] eKLR in which the Plaintiff (Style) was partially successful in its application for both injunctive relief and Anton Piller orders against the Defendant (Sana) for infringement of its ‘VIP COLLECTION’ trade mark.

#ipkenya Weekly Dozen: 06/07

• The Global Innovation Index (GII) 2018 to be released next week [You’re Invited]
• What the WTO decision on plain packaging means for developing countries [devex]
• Time for a bioeconomy in Africa [ICIPE]
• How fab labs help meet digital challenges in Africa [The Conversation]
• Lionel Messi: Image Rights, International Financial Flows, Tax Havens and its Impact on Africa and Kenya [Academia]
• Uganda’s Troubling Social Media Tax [HRW]
• Kenya’s Digital Taxi Services Paralyzed, Strike Enters 4th Day [VOA]
• Comment on South Africa’s Copyright Amendment Bill Until 18 July [PEN SA]
• On the 36th Session of the WIPO – IGC: An Interview with Professor Chidi Oguamanam [Flora IP]
• Ghana’s Copyright Administrator ordered to release funds to Audio-Visual Rights Society [GNA]
• Intellectual Property Issues in Access and Benefit-sharing Agreements [WIPO]
• Governance Issues of Nigerian Music Collecting Society, COSON Continues [Afro-IP]

For more news stories and developments, please check out #ipkenya on twitter and feel free to share any other intellectual property-related items that you may come across.

Have a great week-end!

Fire in the Sky: Law Society Shamelessly Remains Mum in Copyright Claim

‘Fire in the Sky’ (pictured above) is a stunning photograph of Nairobi’s skyline lit up against the backdrop of New Years’ fireworks. In April 2018, this work by Reinhard Mue aka Rey Matata was unlawfully copied and used by Law Society of Kenya (LSK). In June 2018, Reinhard wrote to LSK complaining about infringement of the rights to his copyright work and threatened to take legal action. To-date, LSK and its elected leaders have failed to respond to Reinhard at all, either formally or otherwise. As a member of LSK, this blogger is disappointed that the LSK leadership has allowed such a straight-forward matter to become a public spectacle.

#ipkenya Weekly Dozen: 01/06

• Nigeria’s World Cup kit sells out in 15 minutes [BBC]
• Rwanda’s £30m Arsenal sponsorship divides opinion [The Guardian]
• Uganda imposes tax on social media use [Reuters]
• Cameroon: 3rd Meeting of the ARIPO-OAPI Joint Commission on Intellectual Property [In French]
• Tanzania: AY and Mwana FA awarded Sh96 million against telco giant [SDE]
• Court rules SONY is not a well-known brand in Kenya [Business Daily]
• Music Copyright Society of Kenya Now Banned from Collecting Music Royalties [Captain Obvious]
• New South African IP Policy Text Now Available [Official]
• Some concerns on advertisements in Ethiopia [The Herald]
• Running the gauntlet: making wise patenting decisions [Dennemeyer IP Blog]
• MaXhosa v Zara [Stellenbosch IP Chair]
• Winners of the 2017 ATRIP Essay Competition Announced [ATRIP]

For more news stories and developments, please check out #ipkenya on twitter and feel free to share any other intellectual property-related items that you may come across.

Have a great week-end!

#ipkenya Weekly Dozen: 25/05

• In Cannes, African filmmakers are plotting to take back control from European producers [Quartz]
• CC Africa Community Collaborates on Continental Projects [Creative Commons]
• Ghana becomes the 38th country to join the Marrakesh Treaty [Official]
• Ethiopian Government to sue Dutch Company that patented teff grain [The Reporter]
• The clock ticks towards General Data Protection Regulation for African companies [Nairobi Business Monthly]
• South Africa Intellectual Property (IP) Policy-Phase 1 approved [Official]
• Kenyan Film agencies clash in new licence fees row [Business Daily]
• Eveready ruling keeps away rivals [Nation]
• Kenya Income Tax Bill 2018 has new provisions on IP between associated persons [Treasury]
• ARIPO Working Group Clarifies Fees Deadlines [Adams & Adams]
• Kenya moves to regulate fintech-fuelled lending craze [Reuters]
• TAMING THE INTERNET: The good, the bad and the ugly parts of the Kenya Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act 2018 [The Elephant]

For more news stories and developments, please check out #ipkenya on twitter and feel free to share any other intellectual property-related items that you may come across.

Happy Africa Day!

 

Kenya’s Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Bill Signed into Law

On 16 May 2018, President Uhuru Kenyatta (pictured above) assented to the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Bill, 2018. The Bill was passed by the National Assembly on 26 April 2018. Readers of this blog will note that, unlike the previous Computer and Cybercrimes Bill, 2017 that was first tabled in Parliament, the Act now contains some new provisions relating to blockchain, mobile money, offences related to cybersquatting, electronic messages, revenge porn, identity theft and impersonation, as well as the newly created National Computer and Cybercrimes Coordination Committee. A copy of the Act is available here.

From an intellectual property (IP) perspective, the Act is significant for several reasons, including that it creates new offences and prescribes penalties related to cyber-infringements, it regulates jurisdiction, as well as the powers to investigate search and gain access to or seize items in relation to cybercrimes. It also regulates aspects of electronic evidence, relative to cybercrimes as well as aspects of international cooperation in respect to investigations of cybercrimes. Finally it creates several stringent obligations and requirements for service providers.

For Your Own Protection: Why Proposed Anti-Counterfeit Act Amendments Make Sense

The word ‘Disconnect’ (see caption image above) may be the title of the latest Kenyan blockbuster film but it also embodies the current raging debate over proposed changes to The Anti-Counterfeit Act No. 13 of 2008. In our previous blogposts here and here, we have largely dwelt on the demerits of the proposals contained in the Statute Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill 2018, which if enacted, would radically affect intellectual property (IP) enforcement in Kenya, principally undertaken by Anti-Counterfeit Agency (ACA).

Meanwhile, some readers of this blog, who happen to be IP practitioners specialising in brand enforcement and anti-counterfeiting matters, have rightly pointed out that it is equally important to consider the merits of and benefits expected from the proposed changes to the Act if and when the omnibus Bill is enacted. In particular, this blogpost will focus on the proposals relating to offences and the ‘recordation’ requirements.