Trademark Registration in Kenya
Are you looking for trademark registration, renewal or trademark watch services in Kenya? In Kenya, trademark registration is guided mainly by the Trademarks Act Cap 506. Basically, a registrable trademark is any sign that can be represented graphically and serves to distinguish one person’s goods or services from those of others. In the context of trademark registration, a mark may be a distinguishing guise, slogan, device, brand, heading, label, ticket, name, signature, word, letter or numeral or any combination thereof.
Trademark registration is an important step in protecting your brand identity. It will stop competitors from poaching your customers by imitating your brand. Trademark registration may also extend some protection to your brand image against reputation-damage in the event that your look-alike or sound alike products get tainted. Most importantly, while trademarking earns you rights to stop others from using the same or confusingly similar marks in the same classes of goods in the same territory, failing to register your trademarks may also mean that your trademarks could be infringing other registered marks.
In Kenya, registration of a trademark produces a direct evidence of exclusive ownership and helps keep off potential infringers who would be attempted to ride on the goodwill of your mark. Trademark registration enables you to protect your rights more easily in case someone challenged in court or before a tribunal. Successful trademark registration lowers your burden of proof before a competent court or tribunal.
In Kenya, the trademark application process entails searching the Kenya Intellectual Property Office’s trademark database for the same or similar marks, filing a trademark application, having the application examined by the trademark office, and paying the required fees. Foreign applications must be done through an agent of Kenya Industrial Property Institute (KIPI).
Our Trademark Services
Search
Though not mandatory, we advise that trademark search should be carried out before application.
Application
We help our clients to make application for registration in Kenya and abroad. It is more than filling forms.
Watch/Surveillance
Whose responsibility is it to detect and enforce your IP rights in your trademark. YOU! And we do it for you.
Renewal
Trademarks are renewable every ten (10) years perpetually. Missing the renewal dates may cost you your mark.
Transaction Support
Transactions support services include negotiation, documentation and filing of the necessary documents.
Dispute Resolution
Arbitration and mediation are often better mechanisms of IP dispute resolution because they are faster and cheaper.
I know what I want!
Download Trademark Services instruction form here. Fill the form, attach the required documents and send it to team@thinklyip.com. If you don’t understand product/service classifications, don’t worry. Just list all the services and products associated with the mark in the simplest form then we will assist you. Within 48 hours, we will send you a FREE quotation and guidance on how to proceed with the service.
Trademark Registration in Kenya
This involves preliminary study of the mark to assess registrability and a formal search in the trademark registers to confirm if the same or a similar mark has been registered. This takes an average of ten (10) working days.
We make application for registration of your mark by filling and filing the right documents rightly with cognizance of time sensitivity of IP filing. On average, it takes about two months for the application to be processed.
Following a clearance at stage two, the mark will be due for advertising upon payment of the right fees. The law requires the mark to be advertised in the IP journal for sixty days.
In absence of any objection at stage three or after a successful defense against all objections in stage three, the mark will be registered and a certificate issued. We send to our clients the certificate by registered mail as soon as possible upon receipt of the same.