





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

Registrar General participates in IP leadership at 4th Heads of IP Offices Conference
Registrar General, Ms. Mercy K. Kainobwisho represented Uganda at the 4th Heads of Intellectual Property Offices Conference (HIPOC) for ARIPO Member States, held in Freetown, Sierra Leone from 27th to 29th May 2025.
Her presence underscores Uganda’s commitment to nurturing transformative leadership and youth-centred innovation in the intellectual property (IP) space.
Hosted by the Government of Sierra Leone at the Radisson Blu Mammy Yoko Hotel, the conference convened IP leaders, policymakers, and innovators under the theme “Empowering Tomorrow’s Innovators: Transformative Leadership in Intellectual Property.”
The conference, supported by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), served as a high level forum for strategic alignment and collaborative action among ARIPO member states. Ms. Kainobwisho joined fellow members of the ARIPO Administrative Council to advance discussions on strengthening institutional frameworks and building resilient IP ecosystems across Africa. Her participation reaffirmed Uganda’s prioritisation of IP as a catalyst for economic growth, job creation, and regional competitiveness.
Speaking during the conference, Hon. Alpha Sesay, Sierra Leone’s Attorney General and Minister of Justice, emphasised the urgency of building inclusive IP systems, stating, “IP cannot succeed in isolation. It needs an ecosystem. As Africans, we cannot afford to be passive spectators.” WIPO data presented at the conference revealed an 800% global surge in generative AI patents from 2014 to 2023, highlighting Africa’s need to harness its vast youth population for innovation.