The Directorate of Research and Innovation in conjunction with the Department of Intellectual Property Management, held a successful four-day Patent Drafting Workshop between 27^th - 30^th May 2025. The primary objective of the workshop was to equip staff and students engaged in innovation with practical expertise necessary for drafting their patent applications. The workshop, facilitated by Mr. Sammy Ziro Lewa from the Kenya Industrial Property Institute (KIPI), is part of an ongoing partnership aimed at enhancing institutional capacity in the realm of intellectual property (IP) management.

The workshop was attended by staff members and students from various schools and departments. Prof. Phillip Raburu, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Planning, Research, and Extension), officially opened the workshop. He underscored the university’s unwavering commitment to fostering research-driven innovation and reiterated the paramount importance of safeguarding inventions through IP rights. He urged the participants to fully capitalize on the training and to ensure they translate their research outputs into patentable innovations. This was reiterated by the Director of Research and Innovation, Prof. Lizzy Mwamburi who implored the participants to ensure they acquire all the crucial skills that were to be shared during the workshop.
The key highlights of the workshop included:

1. Legal requirements for patentability and the distinction from utility models.
2. Navigation of patent databases and conducting prior art searches.
3. Drafting independent and dependent claims for various types of inventions.
4. Writing comprehensive patent descriptions aligned with claims.
5. Identifying and avoiding common pitfalls in patent drafting.
6. Developing complete patent applications.

Participants engaged in peer discussions and practical drafting sessions, while interacting with the facilitator, who assessed their draft patent claims and descriptions, providing them with constructive and insightful feedback.
This marked the third patent drafting workshop at the University, following the inaugural session in July 2022 and a subsequent one in December 2023. This workshop is part of the Department of Intellectual Property Management’s ongoing initiatives to enhance institutional capacity in the realm of intellectual property protection and augment the University’s patent portfolio by at least 1% annually. This is achieved by equipping both staff and students with innovations with practical skills necessary for drafting patents for their innovations.

In her address during the workshop, Dr. Becky Aloo, the Head of the Intellectual Property Management Office, conveyed her optimism that by the end of the workshop, each participant would have crafted a preliminary patent application for their innovation or possess the capability to develop such draft applications.

The University of Eldoret remains steadfast in its commitment to fostering a culture of innovation and enhancing awareness of intellectual property. It eagerly anticipates the emergence of an increasing number of patents from its research community. The University expresses its gratitude to KIPI for the continued partnership, engagement, and invaluable technical support in the intricacies of patent drafting.