Kenya’s journey towards a harmonized IP legal regime

The Draft Intellectual Property Bill, 2020 (the Bill) has been prepared by a Task Force comprising staff from KIPI, ACA, KECOBO, the Ministry of Industrialization, Trade and Enterprise  Development, with the assistance of a drafting expert from the Kenya Law Reform Commission (KLRC). The Draft legislation intends to merge three Intellectual Property agencies namely: the  Kenya  Industrial Property Institute (KIPI), the Kenya Copyright  Board (KECOBO) and the Anti-Counterfeit Authority (ACA) be merged  into one entity known as the Intellectual Property Office of Kenya (IPOK). Despite the remaining gaps and uncertainties, the Bill represents a significant and commendable step towards developing and strengthening the regulation of IPRs in Kenya.