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Understanding intellectual property law and what O’Bang Law offers
Sponsored by O’Bang Law
Ong’anya Ombo Advocates (O’Bang Law) Managing Partner Jack Ong’anya and partner Ombo Malumbe.
Photo credit: O’Bang Law
Jack Ong’anya and Ombo Malumbe were first-year law students in 2012 when they came up with the idea of establishing a law firm together. They launched in May 2018 with their parents’ support. They had zero clients then, and so they decided to cast their net wide. They did not have the luxury of specialising in one area. Ultimately, this has ended up shaping them as a full-service law firm.
O’Bang Law has two principal departments, whereby Jack is the Managing Partner overseeing litigation and ADR (alternative dispute resolution), while Ombo oversees Corporate, Commercial, and Cross-Border Practice, and Public Affairs.
“We are members of ALFA International that has a presence in more than 60 countries and with more than 10,000 lawyers,” the partners state.
Managing IP – a British media company that specialises in covering intellectual property – has recently recognised Jack and Ombo as notable IP practitioners in Kenya. This year (2025), the media company has shortlisted O’Bang Law for three awards: Law Firm of the Year, Practitioner of the Year (Jack), and Rising Star of the Year (Faith Ngarama).
Here are excerpts of a Q&A with the team:
What inspired the establishment of Ong’anya Ombo Advocates (O’Bang Law), and what is your mission?
Initially, our inspiration stemmed from individual self-sufficiency. However, in 2019, we reviewed our approach, resulting in enhancing our services and position in the market. The success of individual clients informed us how to go about corporate services. Our mission is to ease corporates operations through provision of legal services that consider socio-economic, and political factors.
What is intellectual property law and when did you begin practising in this area of expertise?
IP law addresses creations of mind through definition, identification, registration or non-registration. Interestingly, in May 2018, our first client, from Hong Kong SAR (Special Administrative Region), was interested in application of copyright law to cliparts.
What key areas of IP law does your firm specialise in?
We offer IP non-controversy and controversy legal services at the judicial and quasi-judicial level.
Which specific IP services are most in demand among your clients?
Trademark prosecution, defending, expunging, takedown notices, domain name trademarks, recordation, IP licensing, royalties structuring, brand monitoring, and counterfeit tracing.
Considering your expertise in areas like brand protection and corporate IP solutions, how do you tailor your services to meet client needs?
We encourage conducting pain point analysis and gap assessment. This is further narrowed down to solutions which may be short, long term, continuous, or one-off.
Who are your target clientele?
Clients who understand and appreciate the value of IP to themselves and consumers of their products.
Who are your primary clients in the IP sector?
Corporations in industries like fintech, manufacturing, ecommerce, renewable energy, fashion and apparel, FMCGs, beauty industry, telecommunication, entertainment and media, agriculture, technology, and energy, among others.
How do you tailor your services to start ups?
Start-ups are keen on minimising costs while maximising services. Therefore, at times, we freely guide them in limited areas and package billable services through milestones to manage costs.
What are some of the biggest IP challenges that businesses and start-ups face today?
Some businesses are reluctant to engage in brand monitoring services, while a majority of start-ups are cash strapped, making them vulnerable to IP predatory investors.
What advice would you give to businesses and innovators looking to protect their ideas in today’s competitive market?
Other than registration, maximising on IP licensing model, whereby the operating entity only has a license to use the IP, would enhance the opportunity to manoeuver changing business environment, maximise revenue, and structuring royalties.
Why is protecting intellectual property important?
IP is an essential asset of a business that can be valued based on brand development measures while factoring in the market performances of the product(s) linked to the brand. It is also an expensive item to develop and sustain, not to mention that one can use IP as collateral. Therefore, failing to protect IP may result in too many counterfeits that will dilute a brand and create access to competitors, lowering its value or subjecting it to stiff competition. One can lose the rights to use the IP in its entirety.
What is the firm’s unique positioning in this competitive landscape?
Agility and ingenuity.
What distinguishes Ong’anya Ombo Advocates LLP in the Kenyan IP law market?
We manage expectations through service transparency and accountability, pricing transparency, and ensuring the client understands the solution to be offered.
How has the landscape of intellectual property law changed in recent years, and how does your firm stay ahead of these changes?
The role of ISPs concerning copyright infringement under the Copyright Act, for instance Starlink issues notices received from copyright owners, recordation, data protection and IP, and artificial intelligence and IP. Currently, we are offering services on policy development, advisories or registration.
What proactive steps should companies take to protect their intellectual property?
Registration, renewing, updating, or non-disclosure of IP. Depending on the IP, adopt additional safeguards like conducting awareness, brand monitoring, tracing, recordation, stakeholder partnerships or engagement with a view to developing regulatory framework.
How does your firm help businesses enforce their IP rights in cases of infringement?
A client’s need determines the ideal brand protection mechanism. The mechanisms may include takedown notices, preparing defences, negotiations on data sharing, injunctions, freezing orders, coordination with government agencies, among others.
What role does international IP protection play in today’s global economy, and how can businesses safeguard their assets worldwide?
An IP lecturer once mentioned that many businesses would shut down if IP law was effectively applied in Kenya. Therefore, despite streamlining efforts by regional or international agencies, countries, need to properly manage their markets and borders concerning imports and recordation. Businesses expect that if they comply with recordation, Kenya’s ACA (Anti-Counterfeit Agency) should enhance border protection to limit entry of counterfeit products.
What trends do you foresee shaping the future of intellectual property law?
There is a grey area on IP in certain areas of law, such as data protection and emerging practices under artificial intelligence. In the former, a person may engage in forum shopping based on financial benefits, while in the latter, it is a question of IP mimicry or mechanical, synchronisation rights, etc.
Other areas of practice?
We are a full-service law firm offering various legal services on tax, aviation, antitrust, digital assets, immigration, construction, corporate governance, privacy, asset recovery, e-commerce, fintech, energy, property, estate planning, M&A, entertainment, and public affairs, among others.
Any other information you would like to highlight?
IP interacts with various sectors like data protection, consumer protection, customs, AI, domain names, among others. Therefore, while registration is necessary, it should not be the only brand protection practice. Other solutions that come at a cost are cost-effective since they help in reducing revenue loss or from penalties.
