A distinctive bottle shape, a furniture silhouette, a patterned fabric: these are the kinds of visual, non-functional features that industrial design protection exists for, and they are frequently overlooked by businesses that register a trademark for their brand name but never think to protect the shape or pattern of the product itself. Industrial designs sit in their own category under Kenyan law, separate from patents, and understanding both the national route through the Kenya Industrial Property Institute (KIPI) and the regional route through ARIPO’s Harare Protocol matters for anyone bringing a distinctively designed product to market.

What counts as an industrial design

Following the 2018 amendments to the Industrial Property Act, an industrial design is defined as the overall appearance of a product resulting from one or more visual features of the shape, configuration, pattern or ornamentation of that product, with “product” meaning anything made by hand, tool or machine. Protection does not extend to features that exist solely to achieve a technical result, or to methods or principles of manufacture or construction; a design has to be about appearance, not function. The Act also excludes two categories outright from design registration: designs contrary to public order and morality, and works of sculpture, architecture, painting, photography, and other creations that are purely artistic in nature, which fall instead under copyright protection.

Registering a design nationally through KIPI

An application to KIPI must include the completed application form, drawings, photographs or other adequate graphical representations of the design, an indication of the products the design will be used on, proof of payment of the application fee, and, where the applicant is not the original creator, a deed of assignment. KIPI conducts a substantive examination against the existing register to check novelty before a design can proceed. Once registered, the design is entered onto the design register, published in the Industrial Property Journal, and a registration certificate is issued. A Kenyan design registration lasts five years from the registration date and can be renewed for two further consecutive five-year periods, giving a maximum term of fifteen years.

The ARIPO route: one filing, several countries

Where a business wants design protection across multiple African markets, filing separately in each country is not the only option. The Harare Protocol on Patents and Industrial Designs, administered by the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO), allows an applicant to file a single design application, designating whichever of the roughly twenty Harare Protocol contracting states, including Kenya, they want protection in. The application can be filed directly with the ARIPO Office or through the national industrial property office of any contracting state, and applicants who have already filed a corresponding design application in a Paris Convention or WTO member country can claim a right of priority for six months from that first filing date.

An ARIPO-registered design takes effect in each designated state, but that state retains a window, six months under the Protocol, to decline to recognise the registration on specific grounds: that the design is not new, that it cannot be registered or has no effect under that state’s national law, or, in the case of a textile design, that it falls under a special register regime. Under amendments to the Protocol, the term of protection for an ARIPO-registered design in each designated state now follows the term available under that state’s own national design law, which for Kenya means the same five-plus-five-plus-five-year structure as a direct KIPI filing, rather than a separate, shorter ARIPO-specific term.

Practical filing considerations

Before filing anywhere, a search of the existing design register should be conducted to confirm the design is genuinely novel, since a design that closely resembles something already on the register, whether registered nationally or through ARIPO, is vulnerable to rejection or later invalidation regardless of which route is chosen. Businesses working with contract manufacturers or external design agencies should also confirm ownership is properly documented before filing; a design created by a third party without a clear assignment in place can leave the commissioning business unable to register the design in its own name, which is precisely why a deed of assignment is a standard part of the KIPI application package described above.

Choosing between the national and regional routes

For a business seeking protection in Kenya alone, a direct KIPI filing is generally simpler and avoids the added layer of ARIPO administration. The ARIPO route earns its value when a business wants coverage across several member states at once, since a single application and a single set of formalities can secure protection in each designated country far more efficiently than filing separately in each one. The trade-off is that each designated state can still refuse recognition on its own national law grounds within the six-month window, so ARIPO registration is not a guarantee of protection everywhere designated, only a more efficient path to seeking it.

How We Can Help

Clay & Associates Advocates advises businesses on registering industrial designs both nationally through KIPI and regionally through the ARIPO Harare Protocol, including advising on which route best fits a given product and target market. Contact our Intellectual Property team to discuss protecting the visual design of your products in Kenya and across the region.

Sources: Industrial Property Act, 2001 (Act No. 3 of 2001, as amended), sections 84 to 93; Harare Protocol on Patents and Industrial Designs (ARIPO), as amended. If a registered design is infringed, see our overview of the brand owner’s enforcement ladder in Kenya.

Frequently asked questions

Can purely artistic works like sculptures or paintings be registered as industrial designs?
No. The Act specifically excludes works of sculpture, architecture, painting, photography, and other purely artistic creations from design registration; these fall under copyright protection instead.

How long does industrial design protection last in Kenya?
Five years from registration, renewable for two further five-year periods, for a maximum of fifteen years.

If I register a design through ARIPO, is it automatically protected in every designated country?
Not automatically. Each designated state has a six-month window to decline recognition on specific national-law grounds, such as the design not being new.

Is the ARIPO route always cheaper than filing nationally in each country?
Generally more efficient for multiple countries, since fees and renewals scale with the number of states designated rather than requiring entirely separate national filings, but it is worth comparing costs for your specific target markets before deciding.