CIPIT Blog

Insights, analysis, and commentary on intellectual property, information technology law, and digital policy in Africa

Intellectual Property and Public Events: Rights of Organisers, Participants and Third Parties

I am hesitant to believe the Defendants’ argument on the issue of intellectual property rights to the event since the traditional common law view that...

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Maasai Take Back Their Brand, San and Khoi Ink Benefit Sharing Deal

The Atlantic published an article titled: “The Maasai People Take Back Their Brand” in which it highlights the efforts of UK-based non-profit Light Years IP...

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The Elephant in the Room: Are the Save Our Heritage Campaign Posters an Infringement of Trade Marks?

On August 12, 2012, the inaugural World Elephant Day was launched to bring attention to the urgent plight of Asian and African elephants. The escalation...

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Kenya Copyright Board and Collecting Societies: Myths and Facts

The subject of this article is to critically analyse some of the questionable statements made by KECOBO in the latest edition of its newsletter, “Copyright...

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Comparing Apples and Oranges: Faulu Kenya on Shaky Ground in Intellectual Property Suit Against Safaricom

It was naive of the Plaintiff [Faulu Kenya] to suggest that it was the only entity to recognise the potential of the mobile phone platform...

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Intellectual Property and Employment: Did Vodacom South Africa "Steal" Please Call Me From Ex-Employee?

Many years ago, this blogger landed in South Africa as a wide-eyed 20-something law student. With a meager budget to survive on, many of my...

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Protection of "BASMATI" in Kenya as Trade mark or Geographical Indication?

In a recent ruling by the Registrar of Trademarks, it was found that the word BASMATI does not enjoy prima facie recognition as a geographical...

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The Rise in Intellectual Property Disputes: Some Thoughts

Recently, this blogger weighed in on the topic of the rise in intellectual property (IP) disputes in Kenya. This theme was also picked up by...

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Ten Years Later: Dismal Performance Scorecard for the Copyright Office

As discussed previously, this month marks the 10 year birthday of Kenya’s Copyright Office (KECOBO) and this blogger promised to rate KECOBO’s performance over the...

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