Te African Journal of Information and Communication (AJIC), Issue 19, 2016 19 Utility Model Protection in Kenya: The Case for Substantive Examination Isaac Rutenberg Director, Centre for Intellectual Property and Information Technology Law (CIPIT), Strathmore Law School, Strathmore University, Nairobi Lillian Makanga Research Assistant, Centre for Intellectual Property and Information Technology Law (CIPIT), Strathmore Law School, Strathmore University, Nairobi Abstract The patent-granting authority of the Kenyan government ceased examining applications for utility model certificates (UMCs) in 2014, after 20 years of examination. This event resulted in an immediate and dramatic increase in the number of granted UMCs. The authors reviewed a selection of UMCs, some of which were granted after substantive examination and some of which were granted without substantive examination. Errors were found in both groups, and the overall quality of granted UMCs declined after cessation of substantive examination. The authors conclude that a return to substantive examination of UMC applications would, on balance, be beneficial to Kenya’s innovative ecosystem, and recommend that such examination be reinstated. Keywords intellectual property, utility model certificates (UMCs), patents, examination, registration, developing countries, patent offices, Africa, Kenya Recommended citation Rutenberg, I., & Makanga, L. (2016). Utility model protection in Kenya: The case for substantive examination. The African Journal of Information and Communication (AJIC), 19, 19-37. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0