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| | | Title | THE ROLE OF TRADEMARK IN ADDRESSING COUNTERFEITS CRISIS IN AFRICA Experience of Kenya | | Author | ACBF | | Subject | Intellectual Property | | Date of Publication | 2017067 | | Publisher | African Community of Practice on Management for Development result at the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) | | Number of Pages | 10 pages | | Language | English | | Geographical Coverage | Kenya | | Keywords | Trade Marks, Counterfeiting and piracy, Fake electronics | | Abstract | Counterfeiting and piracy have become a global epidemic, leading to a significant drain on businesses and the global economy, jeopardizing investments in creativity and innovation, and creating consumer health and safety risks. Trademarks and strong intellectual property systems play an important role in addressing the counterfeiting practices. This paper presents Kenya experience outlining efforts, challenges, and lessons in overcoming counterfeit goods through protection of trademarks and other Intellectual Property (IP) assets. Key findings: This case study demonstrates the extent and impacts of counterfeits and counterfeiting to consumers, economy, local producers, investments, and overall economic development of Kenya and African countries at large. It also outlined the efforts undertaken by Kenya government in combating the problem. Main lessons: Trademarks and IP systems can reduce counterfeiting practices if they are appropriately established and supported. The study also revealed that fighting counterfeiting in African countries requires strong technical and institutional capacities at different levels (government agencies, judiciary, private sector, research, consumers, etc.). Main recommendations: The paper recommends to African states to strengthen their IP laws and frameworks, promote capacity building of all pertinent stakeholders and establish coordinated, coherent and holistic approaches to address all factors fueling counterfeit products in African markets. The paper also calls for establishing and supporting national and regional Anti-Counterfeit Agency to ensure, among other, strengthening of co-ordination between all agencies involved in combating counterfeiting and piracy in Africa. | | Copyright Holder | African Community of Practice (AfCoP) | | Copyright URL | http://www.acbf-pact.org | | Filesize | 546298 MB | | File Format | PDF | | [ View / download original document ] |
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