Dr. Marisella Ouma is an Independent Intellectual Property Consultant based in Nairobi, Kenya. She previously served as the Executive Director of the Kenya Copyright Board and has extensive experience in IP law. Ouma holds a PhD in Law from Queen Mary University of London and a Master’s in IP Law from Stockholm University.

Ouma has published widely on copyright and related rights, especially regarding matters related to traditional knowledge (TK), and traditional cultural expressions (TCEs). She is active in consultative processes both in Africa and beyond on copyright, industrial property, ICT Law, TK, and TCEs. Ouma has advised on and participated in the formulation of IP policies for Kenya and the East African region, has served as a Research Fellow with Copyright Africa, has taught IP Law at the University of Nairobi, teaches copyright in the digital environment at the Africa University in Zimbabwe, and is a facilitator with the International Training Union teaching ICT law in Kenya

Ouma led the Kenya Team for Open AIR’s precursor network, African Copyright and Access to Knowledge (ACA2K), from 2008 to 2010, and was a researcher and author of the 2009 ACA2K Kenya Country Report and Executive Policy Brief. She joined Open AIR at its inception in 2011, and researched and authored a case study published in 2014, The Policy Context for a Commons-Based Approach to Traditional Knowledge in Kenya.

Currently, Ouma is leading the Open AIR case study “ICT in Open Collaborative Innovation for the Handicraft Industry: Opportunities for Indigenous and Local Entrepreneurs.”