– Industrial Property Act, 2001, as amended up to Act No. 18 of 2018 (Revised Edition 2020).
– Industrial Property Regulations, 2002 (Revised Edition 2020).
– Industrial Property Tribunal Rules, 2002 (Revised Edition 2020).

– Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, Stockholm Act, since June 14, 1965.
– Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), since October 5, 1971.
– Harare Protocol on Patents and Industrial Designs, within the framework of the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO), since October 24, 1984.
– WTO’s TRIPS Agreement, since January 1, 1995.

Applicant: any creator of an industrial design or his successors in title. 

Notion of an industrial design: any composition of lines or colors or any three-dimensional form whether or not associated with lines or colors, provided that such composition or form gives a special appearance to a product of industry or handicraft and can serve as a pattern for a product of industry or handicraft.

Novelty: should be deemed to be new if it has not been disclosed to the public anywhere in the world, by publication, in tangible form or, in Kenya, by use or in any other way, prior to the filing date or where applicable, priority date.

Not registrable: industrial designs which serve solely to obtain a technical result, methods or principles of manufacture or construction; designs contrary to public order or morality and designs protected under the Copyright Act.

Right of priority: must be claimed at the time of application. Certified copies of the priority documents have to be filed within three months.

Series application: two or more industrial designs may be the subject of the same application provided they relate to the same class under International Classification or to the same set or composition of articles.

Filing requirements for an application:
1. An application in the prescribed form providing the name, address, nationality, residence of the applicant, applicant's reference and address of service of correspondence;
2. Power of attorney, if the applicant is represented by an agent, simply signed;
3. Drawings, photographs or other graphic representations of the article embodying the industrial design and an indication of the kind of products for which the industrial design is to be used. Representations should comprise a series of views of the article giving precise features of shape, configuration and pattern, and a statement of novelty;
4. Where the applicant is not the creator, a statement justifying the applicant’s right to the registration of the industrial design;
5. The prescribed application fee.

Note: there is no requirement for an agent for an applicant whose ordinary residence or principal place of business is in Kenya. However, for an applicant whose residence or place of business is outside Kenya, the applicant must be represented by an agent.

Electronic filing: not available.

Electronic signatures: both wet and electronic signature are accepted. However, it must be valid advanced electronic signature i.e. an advanced electronic signature issued by a Certification Service Provider (CSP) who is duly licensed by the Communications Authority of Kenya.

For a change of name:
1. An official original document e.g. certificate of change of name issued by the Registrar of Companies, notarized;
2. Power of attorney, simply signed.

For a change of address:
1. Power of attorney, simply signed.

Examination procedure: if there appears to the Managing Director of KIPI to be any objection to the application, a statement of those objections shall be sent to the applicant in writing and, unless the applicant applies for a hearing or makes observations in writing within sixty days of the notice of the objection, the application shall be deemed to have been withdrawn.

Disclaimer: where words, letters and/or numerals appear in the design, the representations should carry a disclaimer of any right to their exclusive use. 

Opposition: can be filed with the Managing Director within sixty days from the publication of the notice of the application in the KIPI Journal. An appeal to the Managing Director’s decision lies with the Industrial Property Tribunal. Any appeal to the Industrial Property Tribunal’s decision lies with the High Court of Kenya.

Beginning of protection: from date of filing. 

Delivery of document: the registration certificate is issued in paper format.

Duration: five years from the date of the application for registration.

Renewal: possible for two further consecutive periods of five years each.

Revocation – invalidation: after the registration of a design, revocation/invalidation proceedings can be lodged with the Industrial Property Tribunal at any time. Any appeal to the Industrial Property Tribunal’s decision lies with the High Court of Kenya.