Kenyan Intellectual Property Rights investigators and judges, prosecutors, regulators and customs officials from the Anti-Counterfeit Authority, Kenya Revenue Authority, Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, Pharmacy and Poisons Board and the Kenya Bureau of Standards received training on Intellectual Property Rights to target transnational criminal networks.

The five-day training was held at the Kenya School of Government in Nairobi and was supported by the US State Department's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs; Department of Justice, Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance, and Training; Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

The training included intellectual property rights investigative methods with participants gaining increased understanding of the threats, impacts and enforcement challenges identified in the intellectual property environment, including the increasing health, safety and economic risks posed by counterfeit goods.

Participants got case-study presentations on pharmaceuticals, electronics and investigative methods to combat transnational intellectual property and commercial fraud crimes.

Speaking at the event the Anti-Counterfeit Director for Legal Services Mr. Johnson Adera said the training was important to participants in sharing best practices and gaining more insights in combating IPR violations. He added that. “By bringing together stakeholders in the IPR criminal justice system and sharing with our counterparts from other countries, we’re able to make our work more successful.”

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About the IPR Center

For more than two decades, the IPR Center, working collaboratively with its public-private sector partners, has led the effort in the government's response to combat global intellectual property theft and enforce intellectual property rights violations. The center was established to combat global intellectual property theft – and, accordingly, has a significant role policing the sale and distribution of counterfeit goods on websites, social media, and the dark web.