Interactive tool · Intellectual property
Kenya Trade Mark Registration
Find your classes, see the official KIPI fees in the right currency, and send us your mark for a clearance search. Takes about three minutes.
Where is the applicant based?
The rate turns on where the applicant lives or carries on business, not on nationality. A foreign national living in Nairobi pays KES; a Kenyan company registered and run from abroad pays USD.
Your mark
We do not file geographical indication applications. A name tied to a place, such as a tea or coffee origin, can be protected as a collective mark, which we file only for an association registered in Kenya.
Choose your classes
Goods and services are grouped into 45 classes (the Nice Classification). Each class is charged separately. Search by what you do, then tap to select. Not sure? Pick your best guess; we confirm the classes before anything is filed.
No classes selected yet.
Official search first?
Send to the firm
Screening comes before engagement. Before we accept instructions or ask for any payment, we verify the applicant’s identity (ID or passport, or company documents and beneficial owners), screen against sanctions and politically exposed persons lists, and run a conflict check. Advocates in Kenya carry anti-money laundering duties, so this step cannot be skipped.
Once screening clears, you receive a written engagement letter to sign. Fees are paid only after it is signed, in one payment of the full amount into the firm’s bank account. KIPI takes its fees in full and never in parts, so we file once everything is paid. We never ask for payment to a personal mobile number.
How registration works
- EnquiryYou send the mark and classes using this tool. We reply within one working day.
- ScreeningIdentity, sanctions and PEP checks, and a conflict check.
- Engagement letter and paymentFixed scope and fees in writing, signed, then the full amount paid at once.
- SearchOfficial search of the KIPI register and our advice on the risk.
- FilingThe TM1 authorisation is franked and the application lodged with KIPI.
- ExaminationKIPI checks distinctiveness and conflicts; we answer any objection.
- AdvertisementAccepted marks are published in the Industrial Property Journal. Anyone may oppose within 60 days.
- RegistrationCertificate issued. Protection lasts 10 years and renews for further 10-year periods.
How your estimate is built
Every line falls into one of four groups. The figures are estimates, confirmed in your engagement letter after screening.
KIPI official fees
Set by the Kenya Industrial Property Institute and passed on at the amount KIPI charges. Applicants outside Kenya pay in USD and applicants in Kenya pay in KES. Each line includes the eCitizen charge (USD 1 per line for applicants outside Kenya, KES 50 per line for applicants in Kenya). Each class is charged separately, at a lower rate for each further class. The amounts come from the KIPI trade mark fees chart for local and foreign applicants.
Franking
The TM1 authorisation of agent must be franked at the lands office. The government cost is KES 240 plus KES 50 eCitizen, paid in Kenya shillings. Franking handling is our charge for attending the lands office to pay the stamp duty and frank the form, a process that can take up to 5 working days. Franking and franking handling are charged per application. KIPI fees and the franking charge are paid through eCitizen.
Firm charges
The bank processing fee covers the bank charges we incur when we receive your payment and when we pay government agencies, and applies once per payment. Disbursements cover printing, transport and the continuous checks we make at the KIPI office to confirm the status of your application. Both are estimates, adjusted to actual cost, with receipts on request. The DHL charge covers delivery of the original certificate and documents to applicants outside Kenya. It depends on your country and is removed if you arrange your own courier.
Professional fees
Prescribed by the Advocates (Remuneration) Order, Schedule 4, and set in Kenya shillings. For applicants outside Kenya, the USD figures use KCB Bank’s published dollar buying rate (KES 129 at the time of writing, updated daily) and the invoice uses the rate on its date. The first class is charged in full and each further class at the lower rate the Order provides for further marks filed together. The search attendance fee applies only if you choose an official search. VAT is charged on professional fees for applicants in Kenya and not for applicants outside Kenya.
Frequently asked questions
Is the similarity search compulsory?
No. We recommend it because it checks the KIPI register for identical or similar marks before you pay the filing fees. If you file without it, the KIPI search fee and our search fee are removed from the estimate. We ask for your written instruction to proceed without a search.
Can I register several classes in one application?
Yes. Kenya accepts several classes in one application. Official fees and professional fees are charged per class, at a lower rate for each further class. Franking and franking handling are charged once per application, so extra classes in the same application do not repeat them. A word mark and a logo are two applications, each with its own fees.
Do I need a power of attorney?
The applicant signs the TM1 authorisation of agent. No notarisation or legalisation is required. A notarised power of attorney is also accepted if you prefer to send one, but the hard copy must reach our office before we file. Where the owner of the mark is outside Kenya, KIPI requires an advocate practising in Kenya to act as agent.
Does KIPI issue electronic certificates?
No. KIPI issues the registration certificate on paper only, usually about 6 to 8 months after filing where no objection or opposition arises. We send the original by DHL. You may arrange your own courier instead, and we then remove the DHL charge.
Can I pay the official fees directly to KIPI?
Yes, if you prefer. Tell us in your enquiry and we will confirm how it works and what changes in the estimate. Official fees carry no discount whoever pays them.
Do you discount your professional fees?
No. Professional fees are prescribed by the Advocates (Remuneration) Order, and an advocate may not accept less than the Order provides. Agents filing several marks together already benefit from the Order’s lower rate for further marks, which the tool applies, and from consolidated invoicing for filings made together.
I am an IP firm or agent. Can I use the tool for my client?
Yes. Complete the steps for your client and choose “I am a lawyer or agent instructing for a client” when you send your request. We still verify and screen the applicant before accepting instructions.
Why is the total an estimate and not a quote?
KIPI and eCitizen can revise their fees, the exchange rate moves, and some firm charges are adjusted to actual cost. The final figure is confirmed in the engagement letter after screening.
Official fees: Kenya Industrial Property Institute, First Schedule to the Trade Marks Rules (local and foreign rates; the foreign rate applies where the payer neither resides nor has a principal place of business in Kenya). Professional fees: Advocates (Remuneration) Order, Schedule 4, as amended by L.N. 35 of 2014. Opposition period and term: Trade Marks Act (Cap. 506) and Trade Marks Rules. Figures checked October 2026; KIPI and eCitizen may revise their fees.