Kenya is on course to implement new intellectual property rights through the latest Intellectual Property Bill 2020 that’s aimed at spurring innovation in the country. Currently, the country is highly ranked as the second most innovative country in Africa and a home to a handsome of global innovations.

Items which can be classified under the intellectual property laws include innovations, copyrights as well as trademarks. Trademarks are basically those special marks that uniquely identify goods and services to a particular company. These marks may as well refer to brand names while on the other hand, copyrights are intended to safeguard artistic creations of the mind.

Copyrights are quite common in the entertainment industry with the likes of audio, visual, literary, computer graphics as well as audio-visual beneath the same copyright umbrella. The last segment of intellectual property includes patents, technology innovations and utility models which are all contained in the Industrial Property Act. There’s also a less common type of intellectual property that entails industrial designs as well as geographical indications.

At the moment, Kenya’s intellectual property laws are contained in several existing laws such as the Industrial Property Act which regulates patents, utility models and technology innovations, trademark laws that regulate trademarks and Copyrights which regulate the same and related rights. But there also existing some government organs that oversee the administration of the various classes of rights.

In the proposed intellectual property bill 2020, the laws therein intent to make changes to the current status by incorporating several pieces of legislation into one known as the Intellectual Property Act (IP Act). The act will then include different classes of legislations under one law and will also lead to the creation of one statutory body to administer intellectual property in Kenya, that is, the Intellectual Property Office.

Consolidation of the intellectual property laws comes with major advantages as is the case with other countries such as Rwanda that were drafted with assistance from the World Intellectual property Organization (WIPO). Consolidating laws into one as was done with previous laws regulating marriage has several benefits that comes into play especially during legal interpretations.

The proposed law accommodates for an intellectual policy and strategy which the old ones didn’t have. Any progressive legislative environment has to be supported by a strong policy to guide future changes in the law. The new proposals spells importance in the growth and development of Kenya’s economy. The functions of the regulatory authority have been expanded to accommodate fighting counterfeits and promotion of innovations. The regulatory body will not just administer the rights but also participate in enforcement.

As most companies resort to having employees work from home, there are some professions that this option would unequivocally appear on their list of alternatives. Surprisingly, some of these groups that can’t work from home are at the same time the most vulnerable in the current era. Take for example taxi drivers, they literally interact with a lot of strangers on a daily basis, whom by extension could be carrying an infectious disease such as the covid-19. Just like anyone else, taxi drivers such as Uber faces enormous amounts of distress during this period; from diminished earnings to increased risks of being infected.

As the saying goes, tough times calls for touch choices and uber drivers have devised a clever way to make those rides without the knowledge of Uber or in some cases vehicle owners. By using certain clever means on unsuspecting riders, they’re able to circumvent paying the mandatory twenty five percent fee they remit to uber on every trip they make.

And by extension the same tactics are used to withheld some earnings from car owners. Uber utilizes an app that connects riders to drivers. Riders have to input their pick up location and destination in the app where the app provides a estimate of the amount they’ll likely be required to pay. Under normal circumstances, Uber systems have become very efficient in a way that riders usually only pay the estimated amount except in rare cases such as traffic jams or road closures.

Faced with touch times that have led to meagre earnings, Uber drivers have found some loopholes in the online taxi hailing app that often allow them to make trips, collect cash without remitting the firms 25 percent share.  

Ways uber drivers use to avoid paying the 25 percent uber fee

1. Loyal customers that don’t request cabs via the app

Once you’ve taken a ride in an uber, there are some customers who might want to keep the driver on certain occasions. For example, there are many Kenyans who have partnered with some of uber drivers to drive them on specific days for various reasons. Whether its going to work or church or any occasion that require one to make regular trips at specific times.

• Cancelling a ride instead of starting it once the rider gets in

This is a peculiar method but still most of them do it all the time. this method works with the assumption that the rider already has an estimate of what the ride would cost. In some cases, drivers ask their customers if they’ve seen the amount they’ll need to pay just before cancelling. And after the trip is completed, uber drivers usually depend on their customer’s good will to pay even without receiving an official invoice.

• Requesting riders to cancel and pay the estimated amount.

This one is a bit straight forward and requires consent from the rider first just to make sure they’ll pay. Once you request a ride, the driver might request you to cancel the trip and just pay for the shown estimate amount.

• Submit a paid trip as unpaid

Lastly but not least, crooked drivers in some cases will say you dint pay cash for the trip even though you paid. This is more common to rides requested by someone else other than the rider. Uber requires riders to make an official complaint within three days. Therefore, these drivers base on the assumption that you won’t notice immediately especially if you rarely use the app.

M-Tiba -a mobile wallet product that aims at enabling users set aside funds for medical purposes has unveiled a text message service that will aid security personnel verify healthcare workers attached to Kenya Healthcare Federation (KHF) that has over 75, organizations in the health sector under its umbrella. M-Tiba which can be accessed via a USSD code *253#, allows for seamless transfer of funds from MPESA and the funds can only be used for medical purposes.

Speaking on the launch, Kenya Healthcare Federation CEO Dr. Anastasia Nyalita said the innovation will aid members to continue working under current conditions and even after most restrictions have been flexed.

How to verify health workers attached to Kenya Healthcare Federation

To verify, Security agencies need only to send a free SMS with an ID number of the healthcare worker to 20253, after which, they’ll receive a confirmation message from M-TIBA authenticating the ID – and vehicle registration details, when available.

In excess of 2,000 staff of KHF member organizations have already been admitted on the platform pilot and a further 2,000 healthcare workers are expected to register in the coming weeks.

Nyalita further added that several efforts had been directed towards curbing the current situation with a goal to simultaneously support and maintain the availability of essential workers, medications, equipment, and supplies. She also acknowledged that the partnership between the two organizations will eventually help members as well as the security services to smoothen the flow of essential services at this critical time.

M-Tiba has been steadfast in embracing technology having unveiled a product that would allow members lock certain amount of their income specifically for medical purposes. Kenyans have faced severe economic times that prevented most of them from setting aside part of their income for medical purposes.

Speaking on the launch of the SMS verification platform, M-Tiba’s parent company CarePay Kenya’s CEO Moses Kuria said the firm was continuing to work with healthcare providers and insurers to find new ways to use the platform to ensure the safe and uninterrupted provision of healthcare and supplies

The current stay at home environment has driven many institutions including university campuses to embrace technology by adopting e-learning to continue offering tuition to students. And to achieve an effective e-learning strategy, both students and lecturers need to have internet connection wherever they are; this has led many institutions in the country to team-up with various broadband internet service providers in the country to tailor educational packages that are affordable.

Telkom Kenya has unveiled a tailored and reliable mobile data solution for the students, members of faculty and staff of the University of Nairobi (UoN), to enable them continue learning even while at home. Fixed unlimited internet connection is still limited to mostly urban centers in the country, with most rural dwellers depending on mobile service providers such as Safaricom, Airtel and Telkom.

Even though most of these learning institutions are doing everything possible to continue offering learning lessons to students, we must appreciate that no one was really prepared for the current social distancing orders and if not all, most learners in the Kenyan rural setting stand to be adversely affected. Internet access remains a luxury to many rural areas in Kenya with minimal coverage by mobile networks coupled by lack of resources by people in those areas.

The Soma na Telkom Bundles, are monthly post-paid data bundles that have been customized to meet the needs of the University’s 40,000 plus population, to continue working and studying wherever they are. Currently Kenya’s top learning institution has 13 campuses with 35 Faculties, schools, institutes and centers.

The University’s Vice Chancellor, Professor Kiama GITAHI acknowledged the e-learning mode of teaching brought along cost efficiency, whilst expanding options for spacio-temporal accessibility. He also pointed out the benefits of e-learning which provides a unique opportunity for continued learning even when the lecturer and students are physically apart.   

On his part, Telkom’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Mugo KIBATI said the company continued to put communities that it serves at the center of the room, in everything they do. He continued by adding that they keep on assessing the viability of alternative avenues that can enable them to go about their daily lives, cognizant of the need for them to stay home as much as possible.

How the University of Nairobi students and staff will get Soma na Telkom bundles;

The University’s staff and students will be onboarded onto the e-learning program, once they receive Telkom SIM Cards from the telco’s robust chain of touch points across the country. Once the SIM cards are activated, both university’s students and staff will then be able to access internet wherever they’ll be.

Telkom Kenya recently partnered with Loon, the Alphabet company working to bring balloon-powered Internet to Kenya, and has so far received all regulatory and Cabinet approvals to begin flying balloons in the country. These balloons will be dispatched from Loon’s sites in the United States, and are expected to arrive in the country sometimes in the next few weeks. Four balloons have so far arrived in the Kenyan airspace and are being used to expedite network integration testing.    

The Loon service is expected to utilize Telkom’s 4G LTE Internet solution to connect unserved and under-served communities in Kenya. Initial coverage areas have already been identified, starting with Nairobi, Nyeri, Nakuru, Kitui, Nanyuki, Narok and into Kisii.