By Japheth Ogamba
We all have some talents in particular areas in life. You may be talented in fields such as art, sciences or in technology. This diversity of talents requires protection. Protection of your work comes under the intellectual property law. Intellectual property is simply a creation of the mind.
This involves inventions, literal works, designs and images that could be used for commercial purposes. It is protected by law through copyright, patents and trademarks which enable one to earn recognition or benefit financially from his or her creation. Copyright is a term used in law to protect literal and artistic works.
Such works include books, music, paintings, sculpture, films, computer programs and even advertisements. Joan Kathleen Rowling for instance, is an author famous for her novel Harry Potter. The book is the work of her mind through creativity. She never shares it with anybody and ensured that her work is protected.
The lady is a billionaire. Mark Zuckerberg, the creator of Facebook invented his application with the help of a few others that has ruled the social media platform. The application was initially intended to attend to the social needs of the university while he was a student there.
However, it spread to other universities and to the rest of the world. It now has almost a billion users across the world. Ranked 8th richest man in the world, Zuckerberg has protected his own creation. The likes of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates are famous and rich because they protected there innovations. The Kenya Copyright Board, is responsible for issuing copyright protection at a statutory cost of Sh1, 000.
The application period is between 5 to 7 days while the protection lasts for a life time. Patent is an exclusive right granted for an invention. After one gets a patent on his invention, he or she may decide on how to go about it. He or she may decide to allow his or her invention to be used by other people. Invention In exchange for this right, he or she can share the technical information about the invention to the public.
However, to obtain a patent, there are certain requirements that one has to meet first. One needs to ensure novelty in his or her creation. This means that, one’s invention has to prove that it has never been created by anyone else. Mobile and technology companies such as apple and Samsung have many patents for their technological creations. Patents can also apply to industries in physical form and even the formula used to create a product can be protected by patent.
The Kenya Industrial Property Institute (KIPI), is the body responsible for issuing patents with ownership duration lasting for 20 years after which the patent can be renewed. A statutory application fee of Sh100, 000 is applicable. Trademark is a sign for distinguishing goods or services of one enterprise from another. In ancient time, people used to put signatures or marks on their products.
The Safaricom sign for example, distinguishes it from other mobile service providers. One can associate Apple products with the Apple sign. KIPI is also responsible for issuing trademarks. The application period for trademarks is 6 months. Depending on the mark category, it can cost from Sh10, 000 onwards.
The ownership duration is 10 years which is renewable. Industrial designs are a form of intellectual property with reference to ornamental or aesthetic aspects of an article. A design may consist of three dimensional features such as shape or surface of an article. At times, it may be two dimensional with features such as patterns, lines or colors. High end perfume bottles such as One Million by Paco Rabbane have a fine touch.
The surface of printed money and certificates have different aspects of design. They are not your regular paper. That is why you can identify fake money from the legal genuine ones. KIPI is responsible for issuing this kind of right. A statutory application beginning from Sh15, 000 is applicable. The application period takes about 6 months with several stages in between.
