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  • URSB Registrar General Mercy K. Kainobwisho elected Vice Chair of the WIPO Conference

    URSB Registrar General Mercy K. Kainobwisho elected Vice Chair of the WIPO Conference

    Geneva, Switzerland; The meetings of the Assemblies of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), which bring together WIPO’s 184 member states, has elected Uganda Registration Services Bureau Registrar General, Mercy K. Kainobwisho as Vice-Chair of the Conference.

    Saudi Arabia’s Shayea A. Alshayea was elected as Chair. The meeting of WIPO Assemblies, which runs from October 04th to October 8th, 2021, will take stock of progress in the Organization’s work and discuss future policy directions.

    Mercy K.Kainobwisho’s election was overwhelmingly approved by the hundreds of government delegates, including ministers, and observers attending the inaugural session of the Oct. 4-8, 2021, WIPO Assemblies, with many attending in person under strict COVID-19 pandemic protocols and others connecting remotely.

    The Assembly converged to discuss a wide range of issues including intellectual property-related indicators which have shown great resilience despite the economic shock from the COVID-19 pandemic.

    The Assembly will also work towards finding practical ways of increasing human innovation and creativity as principal drivers of economic growth, amidst the pandemic.This election is a major milestone for Uganda because it comes at such time when Cabinet had recently passed the National Intellectual Property Policy, and the signing of the Kampala Protocol which aims at supporting voluntary registration of copyright and related rights, all of which form the agenda for promotion and commercialization of intellectual property rights.

    The policy is being implemented by multi-sectoral stakeholders involved in protection of Intellectual property although supervision of its implementation is with Uganda Registration Services Bureau.

    The Registrar General in her acceptance speech thanked member states for their “confidence and trust” in electing her as Vice-Chair of the WIPO Conference and called on their continuing cooperation and support in the common quest to ensure the progress of WIPO and the achievement lined programmes. “I thank you all for the confidence in my abilities. It is incumbent upon us to sustain, expand and deepen the role of WIPO to improve the lives of all people, through creation of solutions to reduce the impact of COVID-19 on our communities and lives. I am confident that human ingenuity will make our world better through innovations and creativity. I am proud to be part of the team of leaders to see this happen,” Kainobwisho said.

    She added that the WIPO General Assembly traditionally provided the opportunity to assess challenges encountered and progress made in achieving stated goals and objectives.

    Delegates at the WIPO Assembly will consider a wide range of items during the week-long meeting. They include a proposed Program of Work and Budget for the 2022/23 biennium for the Organization, based on a five-year strategic plan established by the current Director General, Darren Tang’s administration. Mr. Tang said that priority for his administration is reaching groups traditionally under-represented in use of IP, such as youths, women and SMEsAt the assembly, Caroline Matovu, a Ugandan entrepreneur and alumni of a capacity building WIPO project, was recognized for creating a new detergent brand in her back yard to help in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Mercy K. Kainobwisho becomes the second Ugandan to be elected to a leading role at the WIPO Assemblies.

    In September 2019, Bemanya Twebaze, the former Registrar General and now Director General of the African Regional Intellectual Property Organisation (ARIPO) was elected President of the WIPO Advisory Committee on Enforcement, during the 14th session of the WIPO Advisory committee on enforcement in Geneva, Switzerland.

  • URSB, Stanbic Business Incubator to Support 500 SMEs Annually

    URSB, Stanbic Business Incubator to Support 500 SMEs Annually

    Kampala; The Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB) and the Stanbic Business Incubator (SBIL) have today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which will see 500 micro, medium and small enterprises (MSMEs) trained and supported to become compliant and sustainable businesses annually for the next five years.

    The partnership and collaboration will focus on training SMEs about URSB services and enterprise development under SBIL’s Enterprise Development Program.Mr. Tony Otoa, the Chief Executive, SBIL, and Mrs. Mercy K. Kainobwisho, the Registrar General, URSB, signed the MoU in Kampala.

    Speaking at the signing, Mercy K. Kainobwisho said URSB the initiative between URSB and the Stanbic Business Incubator in training of MSMEs will help reduce business mortality while arming entrepreneurs with skills to grow their businesses.

    ‘I appreciate the role the Stanbic Business Incubator is plays in knowledge management of young entrepreneurs through the training programs provided countrywide. It is these same entrepreneurs that helping our formalization drive by registering their entities’ Kainobwisho said.

    ‘Together, with this MoU, we can now jointly develop and implement a series of initiatives on National Content through the Stanbic Business Incubator.

    These business incubation and management programmes will support our mandate of registering Intellectual property, businesses in addition to getting corporate rescue services and use of movable property to secure credit’ Kainobwisho addedUpon signing, SBIL and URSB will jointly create platforms to reach at least 500 SMEs annually, incorporate a module in the Enterprise Development Program (EDP) that enlightens about URSB services including business registration, Insolvency, SIMPO, intellectual property, provide experts and expertise in capacity building and training programs, identify and facilitate businesses.

    URSB will also extend facilitative and expertise support to the Stanbic Business Incubator’s Enterprise Development Programme, identify and incorporate URSB services that support SME growth and capacity building. SBIL and URSB will also work together to adopt and co-create friendly and inspiring business environments for SMEs.

  • URSB, Buganda Kingdom partner to strengthen Traditional marriage registration

    URSB, Buganda Kingdom partner to strengthen Traditional marriage registration

    Bulange, Mengo; The Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB), the body in-charge of marriage registration in Uganda, together with the Buganda Kingdom have partnered to support traditional marriage registration and practices across communities.

    The two institutions are currently training a team of Buganda Kingdom Events Spokesmen (Aboogezi b’emikolo) on the different cultural and legal requirements of customary marriages.

    The practice has been that once a customary marriage is officiated, the couple received a Buganda Kingdom certificate and considers the marriage registered.

    Majority of Ugandans, even the elites are oblivious about customary marriage registration and related practices to secure their unions. The process of registration of a customary marriage can only be considered complete once the marriage is filed with the Sub County Chief and a copy of that marriage forwarded to the Registrar of Marriages at Uganda Registration Services Bureau.

    Customary marriage, termed locally as nyomkwaro among the Lango/Acholi, Kuhingira among the Bakiga/Banyankole and Kwanjula/kukyala among the Baganda, is one of the recognized marriages in Uganda.

    It is a type of marriage which is negotiated, celebrated and concluded according to specific culture and norms, celebrated according to the rites of an African community to which one is a member.

    By most standards, it is the basic standard of matrimonial institutionalization in Uganda. Customary Marriages are governed by the Customary Marriages (Registration) Act Cap 248 Laws of Uganda.

    Speaking at the event that was also graced by the Katikiro of Buganda, Owekitiibwa Charles Peter Mayiga, the Registrar General of URSB, Mercy Kainobwisho told the trainees the values of encouraging their clients to have their unions registered.

    She added that registration of customary marriages should be effected not later than 6 months after the date of completion of the ceremony although registration after the expiration of 6 months is allowed upon payment of the prescribed fee.

    ’For any society and the Kingdom to develop, the basic unit of society, the family must be documented to support their progression. This is what marriage registration confers to the couples. I urge you all to support all traditional marriages to get registered. The benefits are immense’ Kainobwisho said. The Registrar General also interested the participants in the other related services provided by URSB such as recently established Security Interest in Movable Property registry which allows financial and non-financial institutions extend credit to borrowers using their movable property as collateral; intellectual property registry which protects and enforces intellectual property rights of creatives and is also an area of interest to the kingdom in protection of their traditional garb and related artifacts. URSB also formalizes businesses and handles insolvency related matters.

    According to the Act, traditional marriages can be registered at districts, sub-counties, town councils and municipalities where the customary function took place. Sub-County Chiefs and Town Clerks act as marriage registrars and have in their possession a customary marriage registration book, where they also record the necessary settlements agreed and completed by the parties.

    Within six months, the married couple is expected to go to the office of the sub-county chief or town clerk to register the details of their traditional matrimonial union.

    The couple must be accompanied by two witnesses who are either parents, brothers, sisters, uncles or aunts of either of the parties, chiefs, clan heads or other persons of standing.

    An additional prescribed fine is levied if the registration is sought six months after the date of the customary marriage ceremony. When the couple, their witnesses and the marriage registrar append their signatures on the prescribed certificate form, the registrar then issues a customary marriage certificate to the parties.

    The certificate acts as evidence of customary marriage for all legal purposes. In its entirety, this legislation is comprehensive blueprint for traditional marriages in Uganda.

  • ARIPO member States sign adoption of the Kampala Protocol on Copyright Registration

    ARIPO member States sign adoption of the Kampala Protocol on Copyright Registration

    The 40th Session of the Administrative Council held in Harare, Zimbabwe from 5th to 7th December 2016, identified the need to adopt a Protocol on voluntary registration of Copyright and Related Rights under the ARIPO framework and hence approved a roadmap for the establishment of a Voluntary Registration and Notification system at Africa Regional Intellectual Property Office (ARIPO). In pursuance of the objective, a feasibility study, policy, and legal framework were developed.

    Following approval by the 17th Session of the Council of Ministers for the Legal Framework on establishing a regional voluntary copyright registration and notification system to be formulated into a Draft Protocol for adoption, a Diplomatic Conference was held in Kampala, Uganda from the 20th to 28th August 2021 at Speke Resort Munyonyo.

    The Diplomatic Conference was preceded by an Experts’ meeting that brought together Copyright experts from the ARIPO Member States on 20th and 21st August 2021 and the Eleventh Extraordinary Session of the Administrative Council of ARIPO from 22nd to 26th August 2021.
    Delegates comprised of Intellectual Property Experts/Practitioners, Registrars General, Honorable Ministers of African Regional Intellectual Property Office (ARIPO) 20 member states, Partners from the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), Africa Intellectual Property Rights and Innovation (AfriPI) Project and OAPI met in Kampala from August 20 – 28, 2021. A series of meetings were held that included The Experts Meeting, the 11th Extraordinary Administrative Council Session of ARIPO and The diplomatic conference that was graced by H.E the President of the Republic of Uganda His Excellency Yoweri Kaguta Museveni who delivered a key note address on Friday 27th August, 2021.

    The draft Protocol, upon its adoption, establishes a Regional Voluntary Registration of Copyright and Related Rights, creates and maintains a Regional Database for Copyright and Related Rights for the ARIPO Member States.
    The benefits for the member states include: enhancing an effective and efficient network between the National offices in charge of Copyright and Related Rights and the Regional office, providing an effective means of presumption as to authorship and or ownership, facilitating commercialization, stimulating more creativity, expanding markets, attracting foreign direct investment and facilitating the enforcement of rights.
    The voluntary registration of Copyright and Related Rights reassures business communities and opens doors for rights holders. The system will enable effective coordination between Copyright
    The purpose of the meetings was to review and adopt the ARIPO protocol on voluntary registration of copyright and related rights. The protocol was finally adopted as the Kampala Protocol on Voluntary Registration of Copyright and Related Rights.
    The conference was organized by Government of Uganda through Uganda Registration Services Bureau and the Africa Regional Intellectual Property Organization.

    Benefits of adoption of the ARIPO protocol on voluntary registration of copyright and related rights
    ✓ Streamline networking – effective coordination between national offices & ARIPO;
    ✓ Providing rights owners with an effective means of presumption as to authorship and/or ownership of rights;
    ✓ Offering a document that will constitute a prima facie evidence of ownership;
    ✓ The authors and rights holders will be known, this can facilitate commercialization leading to them being incentivized to create more and explore new markets, thereby increasing their income;
    ✓ Can apply to financial institutions for collaterals using the document of ownership observing the T&C of financial institutions;
    ✓ Facilitating efficient distribution of royalties to the right holders;
    ✓ providing valuable important records and information on creativity, both from a legal and economic perspective.

  • ARIPO’s 11th Extraordinary Session of the Administrative Council starts ahead of the Diplomatic Conference

    ARIPO’s 11th Extraordinary Session of the Administrative Council starts ahead of the Diplomatic Conference

    Kampala; The 11thExtraordinary Session of the Administrative Council of the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) will be held from 23rd to 26th August 2021 at the Speke Resort Munyonyo. 

    The main objective of the Extraordinary Session of the Administrative Council is to endorse the draft Protocol on Voluntary Registration of Copyright and Related Rights that was reviewed by an Experts Committee that met on 20 and 21 August 2021 for onward transmission to the Diplomatic Conference that will be held at the same venue from 27th to 28thAugust 2021 for its adoption.

    The Extra Ordinary Session will also discuss other items of its traditional agenda, including the proposals to amend the Harare Protocol on Patents and Industrial Designs and the Banjul Protocol on Marks with a view to making them more user friendly as well as aligning them to relevant international treaties and best practices.

    Furthermore, the Extraordinary Session will discuss, among others, the status of the 2020 Intellectual Property Rights Reports of Chairpersons of Technical Committees that include Copyright and Related Rights, Industrial Property and Plant Variety Protection as well as the Reports of the Chairpersons of the Administrative Committees for Audit, Finance and Human Capital.

    As part of the Extraordinary session of the Administrative Council, the Intellectual Property Rights & Innovation in Africa (AfrIPI) project will be officially launched on 26 August 2021 from 2 pm. The event will be graced by the Chairperson of the ARIPO Council of Ministers as the Guest of Honour, as well as the Commissioner for Trade and Industry of the African Union Commission, Ambassador Muchanga.

    Key speakers will include the ARIPO Director General, Mr Bemanya Twebaze, OAPI Director General Mr Denis Bohoussou, as well as the AfrIPI project team leaders Mr Dennis Scheirs and Mr Gregor Schneider. 

    The AfrIPI is an international cooperation project funded by the European Union and co–funded and implemented by the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO).  Its objective is to facilitate economic growth in Africa by promoting and raising awareness of the importance and value of intellectual property in support of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) which entered into force in May 2019 and unleashed the potential of integrating the economies of the 54 countries that signed the Agreement. AfrIPI will be executed on a 5 year period until 2025.

    The 11th Extraordinary Session of the Administrative Council will gather the Heads of Industrial Property and Copyrightand Related Rights Offices from the 20 ARIPO Member States and potential Member States. Some of the ARIPO Co-operating Partners attending include the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the Organisation Africaine de la Propriété Intellectuelle (OAPI), Artistas Intérpretes, Sociedad de Gestión (AISGE) and the International Federation of Reproduction Rights Organisations (IFRRO). 

    Patent Agents in attendance will include Adams & Adams from South Africa, Roland Intellectual Property Consultants of Namibia, Ngeri, Omiti & Bush Advocates of Kenya, Inventa International, and from Zimbabwe: B MatangaIntellectual Property Attorneys; Donsa, Nkomo & MutangiLegal Practitioners, Muvingi & Mugadza Legal Practitioners. 

    Hosting of the 11th Extraordinary Session of the Administrative Council, the Experts Meeting and the Diplomatic Conference have been made possible with the support from Member States, more especially the Government of Uganda through the Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB) and the EUIPO.

    The 20 ARIPO Member States are Botswana, The Kingdom of Eswatini, The Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, The Kingdom of Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

  • Uganda to host the Diplomatic Conference for the Adoption of the Draft Protocol on Voluntary Registration of Copyright and Related Rights

    Uganda to host the Diplomatic Conference for the Adoption of the Draft Protocol on Voluntary Registration of Copyright and Related Rights

    Kampala; The African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO), with support from the Government of Uganda through the Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB) and the European Union Intellectual Property Office, is organizing a Diplomatic Conference for the Adoption of the Draft Protocol on Voluntary Registration of Copyright and Related Rights to take place in Kampala, Uganda from 20th to 28th August 2021 at Speke Resort in Munyonyo.

    The Diplomatic Conference will be attended by Ministers in charge of Intellectual Property from the 20 ARIPO Members States, Heads of Industrial Property and Copyright and Related Rights Offices from the ARIPO Member States.

    Today, the State Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hon.HenryOryem Okello, the Deputy Attorney General Hon. JacksonKarugaba Kafuuzi & the URSB Registrar General, Mercy Kainobwisho addressed a media briefing about the upcoming conference at the Uganda Media Centre in Kampala.

    The Diplomatic Conference will be preceded by an Experts’ meeting that will bring together Copyright experts from the ARIPO Member States on 20 and 21 August 2021 and the 11th Extraordinary Session of the Administrative Council of ARIPO from 22 to 26 August 2021.

    Hon. General Jeje Odongo while delivering his remarks said there were many opportunities for Uganda to reap from hosting the conference. ‘As the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, we are hopeful that the conference will enhance Uganda’s cooperation with Member states on issues related to Intellectual Property and Copyright. Studies by the World Intellectual Property Office (WIPO) show that the creative industry contributes greatly to GDP as well as employment to countries’ the Minister said.

    The Attorney General on his part said the adoption of the protocol would support the country’s nascent creative industry. ‘It is very timely for Uganda to host this conference on copyright because the outlook is changing and the choices of employment are also different. We have a young population that has devoted itself to the arts and creativity industry. Through adoption of this protocol, Ugandans shall be able to have their works registered and protected internationally, benefit and earn from their works, enable Government to maintain a register of voluntary copyrighted works which ultimately will lead to better appreciation of the role of the creative industry in promotion of socio economy development’.

    The Protocol will establish a Regional Voluntary Registration of Copyright and Related Rights, create and maintain a Regional Database for Copyright and Related Rights for the ARIPO Member States.

    The Registrar General on her part said having a regional voluntary registration of Copyright and Related Rights in Africa will contribute to a conducive environment to ensure respect for the copyrighted works. ‘Adoption of this protocol in Kampala gives visibility to Uganda and is also in line with the Government’s sustained plans to grow intellectual property & related rights for economic growth. As you may recall, Cabinet approved and passed the National Intellectual Property Policy in May 2019, and it was officially launchedby H.E the President in September 2020. Realization of the objectives of the National IP Policy 2019 is very key. URSB has been engaging all stakeholders and providing knowledge needed as part of the implementation process’.

    The regional voluntary registration of Copyright and Related Rights will also enhance cooperation between national copyright offices to achieve the Protocol’s purpose. The national registration systems often hold valuable information on creativity from legal and economic perspectives and provide statistics on authors, performers, right holders, and their works, recordings, and productions in their countries. The statistics are  important to be included in the regional  database thus contributing to the  regional statistics on creative industries.

    The ARIPO 20 Member States are Botswana, The Kingdom of Eswatini, The Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, The Kingdom of Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

  • URSB Registrar General tips Innovators on how to exploit their Intellectual property

    URSB Registrar General tips Innovators on how to exploit their Intellectual property

    Kampala; Transformation of Uganda into a modern, prosperous society as laid out in the National Development Plan III will largely depend on how fast Ugandanscan harness, protect and utilize intellectual property in a manner that encourages innovation and creativity. As part of the strategy to promote the realization of this goal, the Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB) Registrar General, Mercy Kainobwisho delivered a virtual presentation themed ‘The role of Uganda’s IP policy in nurturing innovation for social economic development’. The webinar aimed at enhancing awareness and building capacity for IP to support national development through the creative sector of the economy.

    According to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), intellectual property refers to creations of the mind,inventions, literary, and artistic works, symbols, names, images, and designs used in commerce. IP is divided into two categories, industrial property which includes inventions (patents), trademarks, industrial designs, and geographic indications of source; and copyright which includes literary and artistic works such as novels, poems and plays, films, musical works, artistic works such as drawings, paintings, photographs and sculptures, and architectural designs.

    In her presentation, the Registrar General, noted that intellectual property is a product of innovation, which is tied to Uganda’s strategic objective to propel the country to middle-income status. ‘Intellectual property is one of the single largest opportunities for companies to increase strategic business value,create new business opportunities, accelerate barriers to entry for competitors. IP represents a significant, untapped opportunity for revenue generation’. Kainobwisho said.

    “Business enterprises irrespective of size must be innovative to remain relevant and competitive locally, regionally. However innovators need to protect their intellectual property in order to gain from their creativity’’ She added

    Intellectual Property supports the transformation of the economy through harnessing of the benefits accrued to rights holders such as creating opportunities for employment of the youth and providing solutions through commercialization of innovations.

    To support IP growth across the country, Cabinet in May 2019approved the National Intellectual Property Policy whose objective is to stimulate and nurture innovation and creativity for socio-economic development of the country. The policy also aims at facilitating integration of intellectual property into national priority sectors and programs towards realization of national development goals.

    The Registrar General in her presentation outlined the pivotal role the national IP policy will play in promoting IP as a tool for all-inclusive transformation of academia, creative, informal, public and private sectors of the national economy.

    “The government of Uganda is well aware of the benefits and role that Intellectual Property can play to accelerate the socio-economic development of our country. The passing of the national IP policy aimed at stimulating effective and strategic use of Intellectual Property in all sectors in order to attain rapid economic development”, Kainobwisho added.

    The Registrar General in her discussion tipped inventors on how they can promote their innovations, the need to protect IP creations through trademarking, copyrighting  and other related rights, how to address challenges created by violation of IP for ICT innovators, empowering innovators to safeguard their solutions/products and promoting transfer of technology through patents.

    The emergence of COVID-19 has had an effect on businesses with many small and medium enterprises (SMES) across the country working towards countering the challenges brought upon by the impact of COVID-19. The pandemic has however also presented them with opportunities to create solutions such as medicine and drugs, protective gear, sanitary products, creating significant intellectual property assets that need to be protected for the benefit of their creators. URSB is undertaking more engagements under their ‘innovation series’ to explain further how such SMEs can enhance their businesses through exploiting the full benefits of their intellectual property.

  • URSB hosts learning Webinar for Innovators on how to protect their pandemic inventions

    URSB hosts learning Webinar for Innovators on how to protect their pandemic inventions

    Kampala; Faced with a global pandemic, innovators in Uganda have responded by developing breakthrough solutions to address local and global needs. Intellectual property on the other hand has played an integral role in the creation of innovations to solve most of the challenges from COVID-19.

    With multiple businesses and the overall economy brought to a slowdown by the global spread of COVID-19, inventors and creators across various industries are however facing never-seen-before barriers and disruptions when it comes to launchingtheir new products or services, and how to protect them from being duplicated or infringed upon.

    To support such innovators, Uganda Registration Services Bureau, who are the country’s national intellectual property office on Friday 16th July, 2021 hosted an expert panel discussion under the theme ‘Innovation during a Pandemic; The need to protect your Inventions’.

    In the virtual webinar, intellectual property experts took time to reflect on the values of protecting inventions and discussed ways in which businesses can work to protect their brands. They also shared observations from the ongoing disruptions and explored creations protection and regulatory strategies for businesses to consider. Dr. Anthony Kakooza, a leading IP Academic & Lawyer led the discussion together with James Tonny Lubwama, Manager for Patents & Industrial Designs at URSB.

    In her opening remarks, the Registrar General, Mercy Kainobwisho emphasized that Uganda’s thriving creative industry must become increasingly aware of the legal remedies to enable them benefit from the commercialization and protection of their works. ‘The growth of our economy is partly dependent on the MSME sector, and together with government, URSB has been taking all necessary measures to spread awareness on the significance of intellectual property rights in protecting and monetizing our creative inventions’ Kainobwisho said.

    Dr. Anthony Kakooza said the role of IP in enabling innovation during this worldwide crisis cannot be understated. ‘In Uganda, small and medium enterprises have been the driving force behind many innovations. Successful SMEs have been able to reinforce ideas to create products that consumers want, utilized IP rights to protect them and created value for their business. Underlining the inherent innovative abilities of our creative sector must be encouraged and supported to increasingly adaptIP in business operations, especially considering the emerging technological developments. This will give them the edge to commercialise their work while protecting them’ Kakooza added.

    James Tonny Lubwama on his part said protection of innovations would encourage more inventors to works towards solving some of issues from the pandemic crisis. ‘Trade mark registrations are often indicative of future business success, establishing stand-out brands and underlining theirdistinctiveness in the marketplace. Industries that make intensive use of trademarks are the reason IP applications at URSB have been on the increase for the last two years. We encourage more innovators to come to us for protection.’ Lubwama told participants

    The webinar was attended by over 200 participants, including senior policy makers, innovators, IP experts from the industry and the legal fraternity who listened in and tendered their feedback on subjects ranging from the need for an increasingly robust IP ecosystem for Uganda to become a knowledge economy, the key role of IP for the growth and success of MSMEs, and the avenues available for IP rights commercialisation, among others.

  • URSB trains senior Police officers on how to deal with Intellectual Property Infringement

    URSB trains senior Police officers on how to deal with Intellectual Property Infringement

    Bwebajja, Kampala; Uganda’s national Intellectual property office, the Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB) has this afternoon concluded a two-day virtual training on intellectual property (IP) and mechanisms for dealing with trademark counterfeiting and copyright piracy for police officers undertaking the Senior Command Course, at the Police Senior Command and Staff College, Bwebajja. The training was organized to present measures to law enforcers on how they canensure that intellectual property rights are well-protected thereby encouraging Ugandan companies, in particular small, medium enterprises (SMEs) and start-ups to invest in innovation and creativity without the fear of their ideas being duplicated.

    According to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), intellectual property refers to ‘creations of the mind: inventions, literary and artistic works, and symbols, names, images, and designs used in commerce. IP is divided into two categories: Industrial property, which includes inventions (patents), trademarks, industrial designs, and geographic indications of source; and copyright, which includes literary and artistic works such as novels, poems and plays, films, musical works, artistic works such as drawings, paintings, photographs and sculptures, and architectural designs. Rights related to copyright include those of performing artists in their performances, producers of phonograms in their recordings, and those of broadcasters in their radio and television programs’

    Commissioner of Police, Moses Kafeero who is also the Commandant of the College said the training was timely since it would make it easier for the police officers to act efficiently against breaches of intellectual property rights, facilitate easier litigation and tackle the distribution and sale of counterfeited or pirated products.

    ‘We thank URSB for offering us the opportunity to learn more about how we can efficiently combat IP infringements. We are now better prepared to act faster against counterfeiting and piracy. We can now reliably compliment all efforts targeted towards IP rights enforcement while stepping up action on infringement’ CP Kafeero said

    The Registrar General, Mercy Kainobwhisho said the training was in-line with Government’s National Intellectual Property Policy that gave priority to the protection and commercialization of intellectual property as part of growing the creative sectors of the economy.

    ‘Uganda’s economic growth and competitiveness largely depends on the many entrepreneurs, from the start-ups to large companies who are continuously investing in new ideas and knowledge. We believe training a reliable team that is capable of enforcing intellectual property rights will encourage investment and boost our collective ability to protect and counter fake goods and pirated content which harm our companies and jobs by denying them revenues from their inventions’ She said

    ‘We want to grant everyone a fair and balanced reward for their innovations while allowing others to build on this to protection to generate new innovative products and services’ Kainobwisho added

    The training comes on the heels of efforts by URSB and otherstakeholders to step up the fight against counterfeiting and piracy while working towards depriving commercial-scale IP infringers of gains that make their criminal activity lucrative.

    Training participants were taken through the various measures to encourage the fight against IP infringements, reduce the volume of counterfeited products and ensuring high-level legal protection for intellectual property owners. The training also tackled enhancement of compliance and practical functioning of IP usage, increase of legal certainty for all stakeholders in the IP ecosystem while facilitating enforcement, facilitating industry-led initiatives and reinforcing cooperation programmes that support IP protection across board, plus general aspects of IP and complaint handling and enforcement.

    The Registrar General made a generous donation of copies of compendium of laws to all participants to aid their grasp of legal knowledge needed for easier enforcement of IP rights.

  • URSB Registrar General holds high-level breakfast meeting to present her achievements

    URSB Registrar General holds high-level breakfast meeting to present her achievements

    Kampala: The Registrar General of the Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB) today hosted a breakfast meeting with media editors and journalists to enhance their outstanding partnership and stress the critical role the media  has played in supporting URSB services.

    The meeting was setup to introduce the core team of Top Management, launch the URSB Journal that will publicise Intellectual Property applications.

    The Registrar General also used the opportunity to present her achievements since ascension to office in December 2020 and establish her first step towards establishing professional and mutually beneficial relations with the media

    Although the Registrar General meets the media more formally at the traditional press conferences during URSB activities, this meeting gave her the opportunity to discuss a number of important topics in a more informal setting.

    The focus of attention was the Registrar General’s presentation on her 100-days-in-office achievements, but other subjects covered included: the launch of the URSB Journal that will enable clients save costs to publicize their Trademarks applications, reflections on how to increase formalization for national growth URSB’s role at improving Uganda’s ease of doing business competitiveness, the Registrar General’s vision of expanding the coverage of services, the possibility of bringing onboard more stakeholders for joint engagements and enhancing support for Government’s strategic Vision 2040.

    This was the first meeting in a sequence of breakfast sessions that URSB is planning in the future to ensure that the media’s role in supporting the public education function is well outlined.