ACA Virtual Briefing Session

John Syekei is a partner in our Nairobi office and heads the Intellectual Property and Technology practice group in East Africa. John is a member of the Firm’s Management Board.
His practice areas and experience cover commercial intellectual property advice, Technology law, E-Commerce, Payments, Fintech, advertising law and litigation, data privacy, advice on drafting and/or negotiation of information technology agreements, and advice on the protection and enforcement of trade mark, patent, copyright and industrial designs. He also regularly advises on IP Litigation and dispute resolution covering trademarks, patents ,designs , breach of IT contracts, anti-counterfeiting raids, IP due diligence, licensing , franchise agreements and domain name dispute resolutions.

John is regionally and globally renowned for his excellence in the IP space, and has received several top citations and recognitions from international directories such as Chambers Global, World Trademark Reviews, IP Stars and WIPR Leaders. Most recently he was ranked as a WTR Global Leader by the World Trademark Review.

On the IT/TMT side, John advises a number of leading technology companies in the world including Uber, Google, Microsoft, Facebook and IBM. He also acts as the Kenyan counsel on regulation, compliance and corporate matters for Philip Morris International, Proctor & Gamble, IBM and Uber.

Over the years, John has established a formidable reputation within the E-Commerce and FinTech space. He regularly advises FinTech clients on matters relating to Corporate Governance; Information Technology; Financial Services Regulation; Mobile Money and Payments Law. He has written extensively on topical issues around this area, and a number of his articles have been published on international platforms such as Lexology. John is also well known for its 'outstanding' capabilities in Data Protection and Cyber Security.

John is a member of the advisory council of Innovation Law Club Africa (ILCA), an international forum for capacity building, knowledge exchange, and professional collaboration among technology law specialists. He is also a member of International Trademark Association East Africa (INTA), International Federation of Intellectual Property Attorneys (FICPI), International Bar Association (IBA), International Trade Mark Association (TOPC committee member), World Trademark Review (WTR), American Chambers of Commerce (AMCHAM).

Stephanie Mulului is an Associate in our Intellectual Property and Technology Department of our Nairobi office and a member of the Intellectual Property, Data Protection & Privacy and Technology, Media & Telecommunications Practice.

Stephanie has experience in advising local, regional and international clients on diverse practice areas including Data Protection and Privacy, Trademarks, Copyright Law, Counterfeits, Technology and Telecommunications Law, Corporate governance, Commercial Law, Labour Law and Property Law.

Stephanie undertook and completed her Postgraduate Diploma at the Kenya School of Law and is admitted as an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya. She graduated with a Bachelor of Laws from the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (AMECEA).

Relevant experience

Telecommunications
• Advised a technology company on telecommunication regulation in respect of simulation of certain cellular spectrum issues relevant to Kenya.

• Assisted a telecommunications company to obtain an ASP and Telecommunications Contractor Licence in Kenya.

• Assisted a telecommunication in obtaining waiver of the 30% equity shareholding requirement in Kenya.

• Advised a telecommunications company on regulation of private 5G wireless network in Kenya.

• Advised a technology company offering e-commerce services on regulation of Content Deliver Networks in Kenya.

• Advised a technology company on the regulation of flash verification calls in Kenya.

Intellectual Property Rights Registration and Protection
• Assisted various entities to register their intellectual property rights in Kenya and other African jurisdictions, WIPO, ARIPO and OAPI.

• Assisted various Intellectual Property Rights owners with enforcement of their rights in Kenya.

• Advised various entities on compliance with the Recordal of Intellectual Property Rights requirement in Kenya.

Change of name and rebranding process
• Assisted an aid for trade organization with its rebranding process.

• Provided advice to an advertising entity on company name objection and striking off of company names by the Companies Registrar in Kenya.

Data Protection and Privacy
• Advised an international school on compliance with Data Protection Laws in Kenya.
• Advised a company focused on appliance and equipment energy performance on compliance with Data Protection Laws in Kenya.

• Advised an Agritech based entity on compliance with Data Protection Laws.

• Assisted various companies with registration as a Data Controller with the Office of the Data Commissioner in Kenya.

Others
• Part of the SSA Google legal coordinating counsel.
• Assisted a global FMCG company in reviewing their employee benefits vis-à-vis Kenyan Law.

Publications & insights
• Co-authored an Article on Counterfeit hotspots in Kenya - https://www.worldtrademarkreview.com/anti-counterfeiting/counterfeit-hotspots-in-kenya-brand-owners-should-be-aware-of

• Kenya: TMT Tidbits: Delving into Telecommunications – The Telecommunications sector from an expert’s perspective

• Kenya: Delving into Telecommunications – Challenges faced by service providers in Kenya

• Kenya: TMT Tidbits: Delving into Telecommunications

Agnes Akal is an associate in our Nairobi office and a member of the Dispute Resolution department. Agnes specialises in dispute resolution and intellectual property litigation.

She is an advocate of the High Court of Kenya and a member of the Law Society of Kenya. Agnes has a LLB from the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology in Kenya and a Postgraduate Diploma from the Kenya School of Law.

Experiences
• Successfully represented the Government of Kenya in international arbitration proceedings that were filed at ICSID by WalAm Energy, a Canadian headquartered company that claims to have suffered damage due to revocation of an energy contract in Kenya. Bowmans was acting as co- counsel with Freshfields Bruckhaus and Deringer. WalAm is now required to pay the Republic of Kenya USD 648,857.75 corresponding to its share of the costs of the arbitration as well as reimburse 75% of the Government of Kenya’s legal fees and expenses in the amount of EUR 3,586,039.28 and USD 252,262.82.

• Successfully represented a locally renowned insurance company, UAP Old Mutual Group Limited in an insurance fraud arbitration matter.

• Acting for an oil and gas company in an arbitral dispute against a Kenyan state- owned company in a petroleum dispute where the claim is USD 23,000,000.

• Acting for an oil and gas company in an arbitral dispute where the claim is approximately KES 376,000,000.

• Acting for Mahindra & Mahindra Pty Limited in an arbitral dispute relating to complex commercial arrangement on supply of agricultural produce where the claim is KES 160,000,000.

• Successfully represented AVIC international in a challenge filed before the National Environment Tribunal seeking to halt the development of AVIC’s headquarters in Africa, which is currently Nairobi’s largest mixed use development.

• Represented Dalbit Petroleum Kenya Limited in a reference filed at the East African Court of Justice at Arusha, Tanzania against the Honourable Attorney General of the Republic of Rwanda from a decision of the Supreme Court of Rwanda. Matter later withdrawn to facilitate out of court settlement discussions.

• Advised Salvatore Ferragamo on a filing action before the Kenya Anti- Counterfeit Authority which resulted in a successful raid, seizure and destruction of counterfeit products infringing on the protected trade mark rights of Salvatore Ferragamo.

• Advised Reed Elsevier (UK) Limited, trading as Lexis Nexis, on filing a counterfeit action before the Kenya Anti- Counterfeit Authority which resulted in a successful raid and seizure of counterfeit book sets infringing on the Lexis Nexis copyright. Consequently, criminal proceedings were instituted against the suspected counterfeiter.

• Advised Diageo on an anti-counterfeit matter in Rwanda in relation to its JOHNNY WALKER whisky brand that originated in Dubai.

• Advising Wahl Clipper Corporation in several anti- counterfeit mandates over the past 2 years across the country.

• Secondment at Stephenson Harwood LLP in London at the Commercial Litigation Department – International Arbitration team (Africa focus group) for a period of three months in 2019.

• Awarded the Order of Grand Warrior of Kenya by His Excellency Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta on 18 December 2020.

Publications & Insights
• World Trade Mark Review: Court of Appeal upholds High Court decision in Doshi case

• Supreme Court of Mauritius sets aside SIAC award and enforcement order on public policy grounds