Procedure for acquiring a patent in Kenya

A patent can be owned by a natural and/or corporate person. It can also be owned by one individual or jointly by more than one individual. There are three main requirements for an application for the issue of a patent:

a) novelty,
b) inventive step
c) industrial application.

The process for obtaining a patent begins with the submission of an application to the patent office. In Kenya, patents are awarded to the first inventor to submit an application. Consequently, it is advisable to prepare and file a formal application, accompanied by a written request, immediately upon the completion of the invention.

A patent can only be conferred if an application has been lodged at the patent office and subsequently examined, evaluated, reviewed, or scrutinized to meet specific formal and substantive requirements. The procedure entails:

1. Preliminary search and preparation of a patent application – The patent application must include the applicant’s full name and physical address. Additionally, it must list the name of the true inventor unless the inventor provides written notice indicating they do not wish to be named.
2. Filing of patent application- This process involves submitting a patent specification, along with the required forms and application fees, to the KIPI office. The application must include a request, description, claims, drawings, and an abstract. Upon acceptance, the application is assigned a number and a filing date, and it is published 18 months after the filing date. The applicant must formally request a preliminary examination and search, attaching the necessary examination fees within three years of the filing date. Failure to do so will result in the application being considered abandoned.
3. Formal examination – Upon receiving the application and the associated fees for application and examination, the patent office conducts a formal examination. This examination focuses on the application’s compliance with formal requirements rather than its substantive merits. Specifically, the patent office checks if the application includes the names of the inventor and applicant, a request, a description, claims, and the required fees.
4. Substantive examination- During the substantive examination, the patent examiner evaluates the merits of the invention. This process involves searching for prior art and assessing the invention’s novelty, inventive step, and utility. The request for this substantive examination must be filed within three years from the initial filing date.
5. Approval and patent grant – A patent is granted if the applicant meets the patentability requirements outlined in sections 23-25 of the Industrial Property Act, provided the maintenance, grant, and publication fees are paid.
6. Patent publication- Granted patents are registered and published in the industrial property journal. A certificate of grant is issued, along with a copy of the patent documents (including the abstract, disclosure, and claims) as they were at the time of grant. The process of granting a patent under the Act takes a minimum of 18 months.

Act takes a minimum of 18 months.In Kenya, patents are valid for 20 years from the filing date. Annual maintenance fees must be paid in advance, coinciding with the anniversary of the filing date, which serves as the due date.

The opinion expressed here in is purely that of the author. For further inquiries please contact our office on 0742028500