#ipkenya Weekly Dozen: 31/08

• Ethiopia: Gearing up the postal sector to drive development [UPU]
• Egypt: Mo Salah accuses Football Association of ignoring image rights [BBC]
• Ghana: ARIPO launches Masters in Intellectual Property at KNUST [Going Places]
• Nigeria: ‘White gold’ – GM cotton hope for troubled textile industry [GLP]
• South Africa: Collecting society SAMRO under fire over multi-million US Dollar Dubai investment [Apparently]
• Zimbabwe: ARIPO Magazine Vol.8 No.2 is out [Get Your Copy Here]
• Kenya: Struggle to modernise traditional medicine is far from won [The Star]
• Double Trademark Law Whammy this week over at Afro-IP [Afro Leo & Friends]
• ICYMI: This Blogger is Now A Member of the Copyright Tribunal [Shameless Plug]
• New Paper Looks At Differential Protection For TK, Folklore [IP-Watch]
• Creative Markets and Copyright in the Fourth Industrial Era: Reconfiguring the Public Benefit for a Digital Trade Economy [Okediji]
• 5th Global Congress on Intellectual Property and the Public Interest [Register 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: 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!

Music Royalties and Human Rights: High Court Decision on Copyright Collective Management Cases

 

Endless wrangles in Kenya’s collective management system have made us all experts in copyright law. The thorny question of how and to what extent key players in the collective administration of copyright and related rights must comply with the Constitution remains a hotly debated topic. This brings us to a recent judgment by the High Court in the case of Laban Toto Juma & 4 Others v. Kenya Copyright Board & 2 Others Consolidated Kakamega Petition No. 3B of 2017 delivered on 13 July 2018. A copy of this High Court judgment is available here. Not surprisingly, both sides in this see-saw legal battle are claiming victory following the court’s final verdict. So, this blogpost will attempt to examine the key issues tackled by the court in its judgment as well as some of the questions that have been left unanswered.

#ipkenya Weekly Dozen: 13/07

• A look at celebrated Ghanaian-British designer Ozwald Boateng’s ‘Africanism’ collection [TIA]
• Help ARIPO develop a new Official Website [Your feedback is important]
• Global Innovation Index 2018 Released [WIPO]
• Interview with ARIPO Director General Fernando Dos Santos [Arterial Network]
• Cameroun: Catalogue programme de Master II en Propriété Intellectuelle 2018 [OAPI]
• New study on the meaning of the “public domain” in the context of Traditional Knowledge [UCT IP Unit]
• Uganda film industry on a progressive journey [Daily Monitor]
• Kenya: Sony trade mark decision not a threat to well known brands [Captain Obvious]
• South Africa: Fighting intellectual property pirates with the cloud [IT News Africa]
• Kenya Film Classification Board Moves to the Ministry of ICT [Oh Boy]
• Sights and Synopsis of the 15th WIPO – WTO Colloquium for Teachers of Intellectual Property [Flora IP]
• A Kenyan Director Made History at Cannes, but Kenyans Still Can’t Watch Her Film [WPR]
• South Africa: Patent Inventorship: Not Always So Patently Clear [Kisch 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!

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.

Book Review: Intellectual Property and Innovation Law in Kenya and Africa by Prof. Ben Sihanya

On 27th October 2016, Prof. Sihanya announced the arrival of his long-awaited book titled: “Intellectual Property and Innovation Law in Kenya and Africa: Transferring Technology for Sustainable Development”. The self-published tome is just shy of 700 pages which is not surprising since it rehashes Sihanya’s entire body of work dating back to his 1991 LL.B dissertation. Unapologetically, the self-proclaimed “Father of IP” uses his new book to trace his two decade-long journey of training, research and teaching in intellectual property (IP), complete with footnote references to private class materials from his studies at Warwick and Stanford in the 1990s. Despite all its quirks, the book stands out as the first serious attempt by an African scholar to discuss the development and challenges of IP law, innovation and technology transfer in Kenya. There is no doubt that the book has laid the foundation for future work in IP law across the country for generations to come.

Kenya’s Protection of Traditional Knowledge and Cultural Expressions Act No. 33 of 2016 Comes into Force

On 31 August 2016, President Uhuru Kenyatta (pictured above) assented to the Protection of Traditional Knowledge and Cultural Expressions Bill, No.48 of 2015. The Bill was published in Kenya Gazette Supplement No. 154 on 7 September 2016 cited as the Protection of Traditional Knowledge and Cultural Expressions Act, No. 33 of 2016. The date of commencement of the Act is 21 September 2016, which means the Act is now in force. A copy of the Act is available here.

In previous blogposts here, we have tracked the development of this law aimed at creating an appropriate sui-generis mechanism for the protection of traditional knowledge (TK) and cultural expressions (CEs) which gives effect to Articles 11, 40 and 69(1) (c) of the Constitution. This blogpost provides an overview of the Act with special focus on the issues of concern raised previously with regard to the earlier Bill.

High Court Acquits Staff, Former CEO and Wife of Stealing from Copyright Society

Maurice Okoth, former MCSK CEO (left) with his lawyer at the High Court for the delivery of the judgment.

Recently, the High Court delivered its judgment in the case of Republic v. The Director of Public Prosecutions and 4 Others Ex Parte Shamilla Kiptoo and 2 Others HCMA 510 of 2015 (Consolidated) in which the court granted the orders of certiorari and prohibition sought by the Applicants namely Maurice Okoth, Music Copyright Society of Kenya (MCSK) former Chief Executive Officer (CEO), James Maweu Mutisya, former MCSK Board Director, Lillian Njoki Thuo, MCSK Management Accountant, Peter Kisala Enyenze, MCSK Regional Manager and Shamilla Kiptoo, Nasratech Limited Managing Director (and Okoth’s wife).

The order of Certiorari granted by the court quashes the decision, declaration and directive of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Directorate of Criminal Investigations (CID), Inspector General of Police (IG), Chief Magistrate’s Court and the Attorney General (collectively referred to as the Respondents) to prefer criminal charges against the Applicants based on the facts contained in the Charge Sheet dated 18th November 2015 in Criminal Case No. 1904 of 2015 – Republic v. Dan Maurice Mwande Okoth & 6 others. The order of Prohibition granted by the court directed to the Respondents prohibits the prosecution of the Applicants based on the facts contained in the Charge Sheet dated 18th November 2015 in Criminal Case No. 1904 of 2015 – Republic versus Dan Maurice Mwande Okoth & 6 others. Finally, the court ordered the costs of the application to be borne by the DPP, CID and IG.