The Rwanda Development Board is set to play an intermediary role after a popular Rwandan design house, UZURI K&Y called out an entrepreneur for intellectual property theft.   

UZURI K&Y is popular and known for their shoe brand which they have been producing since 2013.

The firm was co-founded by Kevine Kagirimpundu and Ysolde Shimwe.

Trouble started on the popular social media platform Twitter when a local entrepreneur Jules Gahizi posted images of sandals on sale seeking urging members of the public to rate his work. In his post, he tagged Rwanda Development Board Chief Executive Clare Akamanzi who commended the products.

However, in a quick rejoinder, UZURI through their Twitter handle accused Gahizi of copying the brand’s products and using images that belong to them to promote their brand.

They went ahead to share images to back their allegation which shows that the images were taken in May 2019.

This led to Akamanzi’s noting the need to respect intellectual property as the Made in Rwanda industry grows.

She invited the two parties to a meeting and engagement in the course of the week to address the stalemate.

…RDB will reach out to both of you next week and seek your cooperation to address this,” she wrote.

The World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) defines intellectual property as "creations of the mind, such as inventions, literacy and artistic works, designs and symbols, names and images used in commerce.”

In Rwanda, intellectual property is protected under Law N° 31/2009 of 26/10/2009 and Law N° 50/2018 of 13/08/2018 Amending Law N° 31/2009 Of 26/10/2009 on The Protection of Intellectual Property.

This law protects the work of inventors, innovators, creators of industrial designs, creators of layout designs of integrated circuits, creators of distinctive signs used in trade, authors of literary, artistic and scientific works, performers, phonogram producers and other authors and creators of original intellectual content.

For a company’s products to be protected, they are required to seek and have a patent giving them legal monopoly granted to make use and sell its invention, and to exclude others from doing so.

However, in Rwanda, a majority of firms especially start-up and Small and Medium Enterprises do not have patents over their creations. This has seen some fall victim when other brands replicate their designs.