Kenya has signed the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Copyright Treaty in December 1996, but has not ratified it.

Kenya does not have a comprehensive framework in place that provides effective protection of trade secrets, but there are limited measures addressing some issues related to them. The protection of trade secrets is mostly by way of common law and equity (and there are a few judicial decisions on this topic). Trade secret protection can be inferred from common law protection of confidentiality. However, regarding whether trade secrets are kept confidential during court proceedings, there is currently no clear judicial precedent on the handling of evidence containing a trade secret while still maintaining its confidentiality. A review of the available case law shows that such matters are determined on a case-by-case basis, and one must demonstrate that the trade secret is indeed useful and applicable in the relevant trade or industry; is not public knowledge or public property; is of economic value to the business seeking to protect it and that the disclosure of such information would be prejudicial to the business.
Moreover, protection is granted locally by virtue of the Constitution (Arts. 2.5 and 2.6). Some forms of protection of trade secrets can also be found in various pieces of legislation, such as those relating to employment and contracts.

It is reported that Kenya does not mandate functional separation for operators with significant market power (SMP) in the telecom market. However, there is an obligation of accounting separation.

According to Art. 34.2 of the Industrial Property Act of 2001, an applicant whose ordinary residence or principal place of business is outside Kenya is obliged to be represented by an agent who shall be a citizen of Kenya admitted to practice before the Kenya Industrial Property Institute.

Kenya is a party to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).

The Copyrights Act provides a regime of copyright exceptions that follows the fair dealing model, which enables the lawful use of copyrighted work by others without obtaining permission. According to Art. 26, it is permitted the use of copyrighted works for educational purposes, the incidental inclusion of works in a broadcast or film, the non-for-profit use of works in public, the broadcast of works intended to be used for systematic instructional activities, the use of works by the government, public libraries and non-commercial documentation centres as well as the use of works for judicial purposes, provided the author and the source are indicated.

Copyright is not adequately enforced online in Kenya. Copyright piracy and the use of unlicensed software are reported to be prevalent in the country. Businesses in the country have also expressed concern about the online distribution of copyright-infringing content.

Kenya is not a signatory of the 1996 World Trade Organization (WTO) Information Technology Agreement (ITA) nor the 2015 expansion (ITA II).

According to Section 157.8 of the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act, exclusive preferences are given to citizens of Kenya where the funding is 100% from the national government, county government or a Kenyan body, and the amounts are below the prescribed threshold. The prescribed threshold for exclusive preference should be above five hundred million shillings (approx. USD 3,600,000)

According to The National Information Communication and Technology Policy Guidelines of 2020, Kenyan-built ICT solutions are preferred over any other solution in the award of public tenders. Where there are no local Kenyan businesses that meet tender requirements, the successful tenderer must provide adequate proof that they will implement a skills transfer program to local firms and personnel as part of the tender award process. Foreign companies have until August 2023 to adhere to this requirement.

Section 157.8 (b) of the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act stipulates that a prescribed margin of preference shall be applied in the evaluation of tenders submitted by candidates offering goods manufactured, assembled, mined, extracted or grown in Kenya. Alternatively, a preference may be applied to works, goods, and services, depending on the percentage of locals' shareholding on a graduated scale as prescribed. In accordance with Section 89 of the Act, which concerns international tendering and competition, and for the purposes of Section 157.8 (b), Regulation 164 of the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Regulations stipulates that the margin of preference shall be:
- 20% margin of preference for the evaluated price of the tender given to candidates offering goods manufactured, mined, extracted, grown, assembled or semi-processed in Kenya, and the percentage of shareholding of Kenyan citizens is more than 50%.
- 15% given to candidates offering goods manufactured, mined, extracted, grown, assembled or semi-processed in Kenya.
- 10%, where the shareholding percentage of Kenyan citizens is more than 50%.
- 8%, where the shareholding percentage of Kenyan citizens is less than 50% but above 20%.
- 6%, where the shareholding percentage of Kenyan citizens is above 5% and less than 20%.

Where the procuring entity seeks to contract with non-Kenyan firms or procure foreign goods, the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act requires a report detailing evidence of an inability to procure locally (Art. 155.5). On the other hand, for the purpose of ensuring sustainable promotion of local industry, a procuring entity must have in its tender documents a mandatory requirement as preliminary evaluation criteria for all foreign tenderers participating in international tenders to source at least 40% of their supplies from citizen contractors prior to submitting a tender (Art. 157.9). Notably, since 2015, an initiative dubbed “Buy Kenyan Build Kenya” has required Kenyan state ministries, departments, and agencies to procure at least 40% of their supplies locally. Furthermore, the Act calls for at least 30% of government procurement contracts to go to firms owned by women, youth, and persons with disabilities (Art. 157.10).
In addition, the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Regulations of 2020 mandate that tender proposals include skills and knowledge transfer to Kenyan citizens, a 75% set aside of employment opportunities for Kenyans, and a local content plan (Art. 144).

Section 157.4 of the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act stipulates that reservations and preferences shall be applied to candidates belonging to disadvantaged groups, micro, small and medium enterprises, identified regions, and other categories as may be prescribed.

It is reported that foreign firms have had very limited success bidding on Kenyan Government tenders. There are widespread reports that corruption often influences the outcome of public tenders, and many of these tenders are challenged in the courts. Foreign firms, some without proven track records, have won government contracts when partnered with well-connected Kenyan firms or individuals. As of January 2019, all tenders and procurements are required to be undertaken through the Kenyan Government’s electronic procurement system, the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS). Certain foreign companies have expressed concerns about IFMIS due to insufficient connectivity and technical capacity in county government offices, apathy from county government officials, central control shutdowns, and security gaps that render the system vulnerable to manipulation and hacking.

Section 4.3 (Skills and Innovation) of the National ICT Policy Guidelines 2020 establishes that skills transfer to local firms and personnel is a mandatory requirement to win public tenders.