The following pages offer a brief presentation of the book entitled “Intellectual Property Law in East Africa”, written by Professor David J. Bakibinga and Professor Ronald Mayambala Kakungulu. In particular, this foreword starts with a general outline of the subject the book deals with and a presentation of the Authors. It finally focuses on the chapter about the legal aspects of copyright and copyright-related rights in East Africa and explains the reasons why such matters were chosen to be published in this journal.  

1. The book The past half century in Uganda has witnessed both concern and interest in copyright and neighbouring rights. This is evident in the laws and treaties initiated both the Uganda Government and the international community, aimed at enabling copyright holders to realize the benefits of their intellectual works. “Intellectual Property Law in East Africa” is a book aimed at students pursuing intellectual property law courses in Uganda and East African Universities as well as natural, technological and health sciences disciplines. It will also be useful to legal practitioners in the field of intellectual property as a ready reference on the subject. 2. The Authors Both the Authors are university scholars. In particular, Prof. David Bakibinga is Professor at Makerere University (Uganda) and has taught and written about Intellectual Property Law for over a decade. He is also a Fellow of the African Academy of Sciences. Dr.Kakungulu Mayambala is a senior Lecturer in the Human Rights and Peace Centre, School of Law, Makerere University, where he is teaching Intellectual Property Law. He has written on Copyright Law and his most noteworthy contribution is “Uganda’s Copyright Law” in Jeremy de Beer et al (eds) Access to Knowledge in Africa: The Role of Copyright (UCT Press 2010). 3. Contents of the book The text “Intellectual Property Law in East Africa”, by Prof. David Bakibinga and Dr. Kakungulu Mayambala, deals primarily with the law relating to intellectual property protection in Uganda. The book is the first comprehensive and thorough work concerning Copyright and the other IP Rights in Uganda as well as in the East African System as a whole. With respect to copyright, it considers the developments from the pre colonial period to the current period and takes into account the international developments which influenced the current domestic law (the Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act (CNRA), 2006). Relevant international legal instruments are also analysed. The text then examines design law from an historical and current position enshrined in the Industrial Property Act, 2014 (IPA). There then follows a conclusion of the background and nature of patent protection based on the IPA focusing on the requirements for protection, ownership, infringement, defences and remedies. A similar approach is adopted with regard to trade marks, but with focus being on the Trade Marks Act, 2010 and the related and alternative legal protection under passing off which emphasizes the protection of the goodwill in a trade. Throughout all the chapters reference is made to the corresponding Kenyan and Tanzanian laws and relevant cases in order to give the reader a regional appreciation of the subject. More in detail, the book is divided into eleven chapters, ranging from the definition of copyright and that of copyright-related rights in Uganda (Chapter One) to a more detailed analysis of the domestic legal [continua..]