Registering a Trademark in Kenya: The KIPI Process, the Fees and What It Protects

A business name and a registered trademark do different jobs. The Business Registration Service records a business name; that entry alone does not give you exclusive rights to a brand. A valid trademark registration gives its owner the exclusive right to use the mark for the goods and services it covers. If another trader uses a confusingly similar mark, the owner may need to take steps to enforce that right. A long-established unregistered brand may also be protected through passing off, a separate common-law action.

1. What a trademark is, and what registration buys you

A trade mark is a sign that distinguishes the goods and services of one enterprise from those of another. Under the Trade Marks Act (Cap. 506), a mark can be a distinguishing guise, slogan, device, brand, heading, label, ticket, name, signature, word, letter or numeral, or any combination of them, in two-dimensional or three-dimensional form.

Registration is not mandatory. A mark can be owned through use, and a long period of use can establish ownership at common law. Registration is still worth doing, because it is direct evidence of exclusive ownership, and in a dispute the burden falls on the challenger to prove their rights.

A registered trademark is also an asset. It can be licensed, assigned, and used as security, and it adds value to a business that is being valued or sold.

2. Business name versus trademark

A business name is registered under the Registration of Business Names Act, on a single national register kept by the Business Registration Service. It tells you that no other business has that exact name on the register. It does not give you exclusivity over a brand, a logo or a slogan, and it does not stop a competitor from using a similar name in a different line of business.

A trademark is registered under the Trade Marks Act and protects the sign itself, in the classes of goods and services you register it for.

A business can hold both. A name registration alone does not protect a brand.

3. Before you apply: the search

KIPI's route starts with a search, to find out whether the mark, or something close to it, is already on the register. The Registrar searches the register again when your application is filed, under rule 30 of the Trade Marks Rules, so the early search is a step you take, not a gate KIPI puts in your way.

The search is filed on Form TM27 under rule 114, at KES 2,000 for the first class and KES 1,000 for each subsequent class. The same form carries a second service: preliminary advice from the Registrar on whether the mark is distinctive, under rule 20(1), at KES 3,000 for the first class and KES 2,000 for each subsequent class. KIPI's FAQ quotes KES 3,000 for the search, which is the preliminary-advice figure rather than the search fee.

A clear search is not a guarantee, because the register is examined again when the application is filed, but it tells you early whether you are likely to face an objection.

Run the search before you spend money on packaging, a domain or marketing that uses the mark.

4. The Nice Classification, and why it decides your cost

Trademarks are registered by class, under an international system called the Nice Classification. Kenya applies the 13th edition, which took effect on 1 January 2026 and applies to applications filed on or after that date. KIPI's site still carries the 12th edition as a download, so confirm the edition being applied before you file.

There are 45 classes: 34 for goods and 11 for services.

The class is where most of the cost sits.

A mark registered in one class does not by itself stop another applicant registering a similar mark in a different class, but a different class is not a free pass: the marks, the goods or services and the protection for well-known marks still matter, and similar goods or services can still conflict. A business that makes goods and sells them under its own brand may need more than one class. Decide the classes before you file, because adding goods or services later costs KES 3,000 per class.

5. Who can apply

An individual, a company, a partnership, a society, a co-operative or any lawful association can apply for a trademark in Kenya.

A foreign applicant must use a local agent. The application is filed at KIPI, and the forms are available on the KIPI website. Payment for KIPI services goes through the eCitizen platform.

The applicant must be the person who intends to use the mark, or who is already using it. A mark filed in bad faith, to block a competitor, can be challenged.

6. The application and the fees

The application is filed on Form TM2. The fee for the first class is KES 4,000, and KES 3,000 for each subsequent class.

The fees are paid in stages. KIPI asks for payment after it receives the forms and instructs you to pay, so the sequence is: file, wait for the instruction, pay, and keep the receipt.

For one class the total is KES 11,000 on the published schedule. KIPI's FAQ quotes KES 12,000, which prices the search at KES 3,000.

These are KIPI's local fees, payable in Kenya shillings. A separate foreign-fee schedule, in US dollars, applies where the person paying the fee, or the person on whose behalf it is paid, neither resides in Kenya nor has a principal place of business in Kenya.

7. The opposition window

Once the application is accepted, it is advertised. The advertisement fee is KES 3,000 for the first class and KES 2,500 for each subsequent class.

A third party has sixty days from the advertisement to file a notice of opposition on Form TM6, under rule 46 of the Trade Marks Rules. The fee for an opposition is KES 5,000 for the first class and KES 4,000 for each subsequent class. If you oppose someone else's mark, that is your cost, not the applicant's.

If no opposition is filed within the period, the mark proceeds to registration. If an opposition is filed, the matter is heard by the Registrar, and both sides file evidence. The Registrar may extend the time for filing a notice of opposition.

If you are the applicant and an opposition is filed against you, you file a counter-statement on Form TM7 at KES 4,000 for the first class and KES 3,000 for each subsequent class.

8. Duration, renewal and removal

A trademark registration lasts ten years from the date of the application, under section 23(1). It can be renewed for further ten-year periods. The renewal fee is KES 4,000 for the first class and KES 3,000 for each subsequent class.

The renewal application is yours to make. If you miss the renewal, KIPI advertises the non-payment and gives you thirty days to pay the renewal fee plus a late fee of KES 3,000. Paying within those thirty days keeps the mark on the register without removal. If the thirty days lapse unpaid, the mark is removed. You can then apply to have it restored by paying the renewal fee plus a restoration fee of KES 5,000, but restoration is not automatic: the Registrar must be satisfied that it is just to restore the mark, and may impose conditions (Trade Marks Rules, rule 68).

A mark that is removed for non-payment still counts as an existing mark for one year after removal, under section 23(4), which can block a new applicant from registering it in that window. The protection does not apply where the court or the Registrar is satisfied either that there was no bona fide trade or business use of the mark in the two years before its removal, or that no deception or confusion would be likely to arise from the new application.

A registration can also be removed for non-use. Under section 29(1)(b) of the Trade Marks Act, a mark that has not been bona fide used for five years or more can be taken off the register on application by any person aggrieved. The period must be continuous, the use must be genuine use for the goods or services registered, and an applicant cannot rely on non-use that arose from special circumstances in the trade rather than an intention to abandon the mark (section 29(3)).

9. If someone uses your mark

Registration gives you the right to sue for infringement, and the burden of disputing your ownership falls on the other party.

The first step is usually a letter. A cease-and-desist letter that sets out the registration number, the class and the offending use is often enough to stop a small infringement. If it is not, the remedy is a court action for infringement, and the court can grant an injunction, damages and an order for the infringing goods to be delivered up or destroyed.

Act quickly. An infringement that is tolerated can weaken the mark, and a delay can be used against you.

10. What to do before you file

Choose a mark that is distinctive. Generic marks are not protected, and descriptive marks are hard to register. An invented word, or a word with no direct reference to the character or quality of the goods, is the strongest position.

Run the search before you invest in the brand. Decide the classes before you file. Keep the filing receipts, because they are your proof of the date of application, and the registration is backdated to that date.

Key facts