





Chief Guest Dr. Mary Teopista (Center), Amb. Francis Butagira, Registrar General Ms. Mercy K. Kainobwisho and URSB board members pose for a photo at the URSB ISO Certification External Stakeholders celebration
Hon. Nobert Mao congratulates the Registrar General, Ms. Mercy K. Kainobwisho, and Board member, Ms. Lydia A. Sekkabira on the ISO 9001:2015 certification milestone
Mr. Hamidu Tumuhimbise, a senior Registration Officer, attends to a client during the UEB claimants exercise at the Uganda Business Facilitation Center, Kololo
A delegation from PACRA led by the Deputy Registrar Mr. Chewe Peter Chilufya (Center) visited URSB for a 3 days benchmarking visit on the Intellectual Property Registry on how systems operate, the digital improvements implemented and how these reforms contribute to reduced turnaround time
A delegation from UNOC visits URSB to benchmark on the Digital Transformation Journey.
Director General WIPO Mr. Daren Tang, Minister of Justice Hon. Nobert Mao, The Registrar General Ms. Mercy K. Kainobwisho, URSB Board members a delegation from WIPO pause for a photo at the Uganda Business Facilitation Center during the DG’s mission to Uganda

URSB Board Chairman commits to strengthening IP promotion at ARIPO meeting
H.E. Amb. Francis Butagira, Chairman of the Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB) Board of Directors, expressed his pride in leading Uganda’s delegation to the African Regional Intellectual Property Organisation (ARIPO) in Harare, Zimbabwe recently. Speaking at the ARIPO headquarters, Amb. Butagira highlighted the strong relationship between Uganda and ARIPO, acknowledging the organisation’s role in promoting creativity and innovation for socio-economic growth across its member states.
He commended ARIPO’s continued support in Uganda’s intellectual property (IP) sector, particularly in the implementation of Uganda’s National Intellectual Property Policy 2019. Mr. Butagira noted that ARIPO has played a crucial role in capacity building, with many Ugandan professionals benefiting from master’s programmes in intellectual property at renowned institutions such as Africa University, the University of Dar es Salaam, and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology.
Uganda’s commitment to furthering its collaboration with ARIPO was clear as Amb. Butagira emphasised the nation’s goal of increasing the uptake of ARIPO services. He also praised ARIPO’s efforts in the recent Global Innovation Index rankings, where Uganda, alongside Rwanda, ranked among the top three non-island nations in lower-income economies.
Amb. Butagira concluded by expressing his gratitude to the ARIPO team, highlighting the importance of continued collaboration to promote innovation and IP protection across Africa.