KENYA:Kenya is trying to prevent a British company trademarking the term "kikoy" - the Anglicised spelling of kikoi, a traditional cloth wrap warn by Swahili fishermen and popular with tourists.
Upmarket boutiques in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, sell bags, tablecloths, bedspreads and numerous other items made from the fashionable cotton fabrics.
But now the Kikoy Company has applied to register the term as a British trademark, which has angered Kenyan manufacturers and fairtrade campaigners.
"The move will lock out exporters from the British market, costing the country millions of shillings and jobs," said James Otieno Odek, head of Kenya's Industrial Property Institute.
His organisation has teamed up with Traidcraft Exchange, a fairtrade organisation, to oppose the application in London.
They argue that the word kikoy is a generic term used widely to describe the colourful wrap rather than an item specific to the Kikoy Company.
For their part, the Kikoy Company insists that Kenyan firms will not lose out as the trademark will only apply in Europe where the term is not widely used.
And they say that sale of the items in Kenya will be unaffected.
Kikois have long been worn by men along the coast of East Africa, rather like a sarong.
In recent years they have been turned into fashion items.
Their colourful designs have been used as bathrobes, dresses and they have even been used to decorate the Channel 4 Big Brother house.
The controversy has sucked in the Kenyan government, which is belatedly realising that many of its resources - from rare enzymes found in the Rift Valley soda lakes to traditional crafts - are being exploited by western companies.
Alfred Mutua, government spokesman, said the trade ministry was working to ensure that the term could not be registered by any British company.