





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

Justice Minister leads reading of Copyright Amendment Bill 2025 for the first time
The Copyright and Neighbouring Rights (Amendment) Bill, 2025 had its first reading in Uganda’s Parliament on 13th May 2025. The Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Hon. Norbert Mao, presented the Bill during a session chaired by Speaker, Rt. Hon. Anita Among.
The bill will among others detail new ways of commercialising the arts by capturing new age media that includes technological innovations, and changes in the mode of content creation, distribution, and exploitation that were not envisaged in the present Act.
The Bill is also being amended to expand the jurisdiction of obtaining civil remedies to the High Court generally and to provide for a quasi–judicial processes in dispute settlement related to Copyright and
Neighbouring rights.
URSB SET TO EXECUTE
The Uganda Registration is the national intellectual property (IP) office and is charged with registration, protection and promotion of various aspects of IP. A new department of Copyright and Neighbouring Rights has already been established and staffed to pursue aspirations related to Copyright and Neighbouring Rights.
Once assented to, the Bill will modernise Uganda’s copyright laws in their use and exploitation through the internet, online services, and other technological means, streamline the registration of collecting societies which are regulated by URSB, while offering stronger protection for creators and innovators
and promoting economic growth in the country’s creative industries.
After the first reading, Speaker Anita Among referred the Bill to the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee for further scrutiny. The committee will review its provisions, gather stakeholder input, and report to Parliament for debate and potential passage.