Kiondos, Kikoys and Shukas: Intellectual Property Protection is Everyone’s Business

By: misterNV

What does this picture have in common with a picture of Wangari Maathai in Oslo City Hall on December 10th 2004? Easy, both of them give us another example of how peculiar Kenyans are. We take for granted all the wealth and potential we have until outsiders put it up on a pedestal, then that’s when Kenyans quickly rush to claim that which is being praised or paraded as originally from Kenya.

Kenyans are not only guilty of not appreciating what they have, but of also being too generous with their precious resources. How many times have you heard of researchers from the Developed World masquerading as tourists visiting Kenya, going straight to our rural destinations, collecting samples of plant, animal or even human genes, then heading back to their laboratories in the West and developing patented products which we end up buying?
In this regard, another recurring theme is Kenyans failing to come up with new and innovative ways of utilising all those aspects of our traditional knowledge and cultural expressions that are already known to be Kenyan and thus considered to be in the public domain for purposes of intellectual property protection, including art, designs and handicrafts.

The Kiondo case:
The Kiondo was not ‘stolen’ as is widely believed. Kenyans have simply failed to commercialise the Kiondo both as a product patent or even as a design. However, even if Kenya had filed a patent in respect of the Kiondo, the life of a patent under the law is only 20 years non-renewable. After this period, the patent falls into the public domain and can be freely used, adapted and copied by others.
With both the product patent and design windows firmly shut, the only other avenue for commercializing the kiondo is through a process patent. This is what Japan is currently doing and Kenya is not. The Japanese Patent Office database currently contains patented inventions able to produce en masse industrial woven baskets, some made of fabric or paper materials. Therefore for Kenyans to utilize the kiondo, there must be more aggressive brand campaigns so that we retain that positive link of association between the baskets and Kenya.

The Kikoy case:
A few years back a UK Company had attempted to register a trademark in respect of the Kikoy. This application for trademark registration was rejected because the word ‘kikoy’ has become a generic term (in the same way as ‘Xerox” in respect of photocopying) therefore it could not be registered in respect of textile goods. However for those innovative Kenyans that have been able to use the kikoy to come up with other products, these can be protected under our law as utility models or as distinctive trademarks.

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