Faith Oronga Amatika-Omondi

My duties include:

• Coordinating and supervising copyright registration
• Developing opinion papers on international treaties and laws that pertain to intellectual property, copyright and related rights
• Formulating and reviewing legal policies for the Kenya Copyright Board as well as advising the Board
• Drafting bills and regulations relating to intellectual property and copyright
• Drafting court pleadings and other documents and attending to court cases
• Conducting mediations and other alternative dispute resolution exercises in intellectual property related disputes
• Formulating and interrogating legal contracts and agreements
• Creating awareness on copyright and intellectual property for rightsholders and other stakeholders
• Establishing and maintaining a national register on Traditional Knowledge and Traditional Cultural Expressions.

As a consultant my major tasks included:

• Researching and writing a concise report on the existing policies and law regarding strategic technology control, the regulatory landscape concerning securing innovation, what investment controls are in place, what Intellectual Property protections exist, and what mechanisms for advice and assistance are provided by government. The primary field of focus for this report was on security-related policies regarding the protection of weaponizable technologies from diversion for malign purposes. This report was proactively focused towards identifying areas for improvement, clarification, streamlining, or innovation in order to build a substantive conversation between industry and government stakeholders and policy frameworks on securing innovation in Kenya.
• Preparing presentation slides
• Conducting a webinar to discuss the findings of the report
• Preparing a final report considering the deliberations from the webinar

In 2019, The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)'s Committee on Development and Intellectual Property (CDIP) approved, on Kenya's proposal, a three-year project on the use of Intellectual Property in the software sector. https://www.wipo.int/meetings/en/doc_details.jsp?doc_id=416005 The beneficiary countries at the pilot phase of the project were Kenya, the Philippines and Trinidad and Tobago.

As Kenya's Focal Point, my responsibilities included:

• Ensuring the effective implementation of the project at the national level
• Engaging local stakeholders in the project implementation.
• Engaging regularly with the Project Manager and acting as the liaising officer between the project team and the beneficiaries (ministries, IP Office, communities, rights holders etc.)
• Reporting any potential issues on the ground to the project manager.
• Coordinating the work of the local consultants.
• Contributing to the project outputs

As as Research Fellow, my duties included:

• Conducting research on agreed topics
• Writing articles, blog posts and creating podcasts
• Participating in relevant seminars/conferences and any other activity as jointly agreed upon.
• https://cipit.strathmore.edu/cpc-fellowship/
• The fellowship culminated in the publication of a journal article 'The Regulation of Deepfakes in Kenya', which can be accessed here https://lnkd.in/d6qMgg9T

Assisted Prof. Dr. Ulrike Wanitzek; University of Bayreuth; Faculty of Law, Business Administration and Economics; Universitätstr. 30 RW Building, Room 1.23, 95447 Bayreuth, Germany in legal research which culminated in the publication of a co-authored a book chapter on family law in Kenya. The book reference is: A. Bergmann/M. Ferid/D. Henrich (eds) Internationales Ehe – und Kindschaftsrecht. Frankfurt/Main: Verlag für Standesamtswesen. 2014, 1-102. ISBN: 9783801912079

My responsibilities included:

• Carrying out both primary and secondary research on family law questions in Kenya for instance, types of marriages recognized in law; custody and maintenance of children; divorce proceedings; etc.
• Writing and presenting my findings.
• Discussing and suggesting the best approach to get all relevant information.
• Interrogating and verifying the findings obtained from secondary research, etc.
• Establishing relevant black letter law by researching statutes and codes as well as case law.

My duties included:

• Advising clients on legal issues
• Preparing legal briefs
• Drafting pleadings and attending court to prosecute or defend cases
• Preparing legal opinions on various legal issues
• Dealing with other tasks as assigned