BizCLIR

Over the past 2 years, Ethiopia has enacted a series of new laws pertaining to major areas of intellectual property rights (IPR), namely, copyright and related rights, plant varieties, and trademarks. In addition, the country is in the process of developing new laws for the protection of geographical indications and for undisclosed information. These actions indicate that IPR is receiving Government interest and attention, primarily through efforts of the Ethiopian Intellectual Property Office (EIPO). Until the formation of the EIPO in 2003, responsibility for and control over the various areas of intellectual property were handled by different, unrelated Government agencies with no single institution having authority over them. The Ethiopian Science and Technology Commission managed the protection of inventions and industrial designs, the Ministry of Culture and Information dealt with functions related to the administration of literary and artistic works, and the Ministry of Trade and Industry had responsibility for trademarks.

Relative to some other developing countries, Ethiopia does not exhibit a great and problematic tendency to abuse IPR. For example, Ethiopia is not among the countries the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) has targeted in its annual “Section 301” report. Nevertheless, counterfeit goods (e.g., CDs and DVDs) are available in Addis Ababa, most visibly through street vendors, despite Government efforts in the past to address this problem. At this time, a series of measures are being taken to address the problem of counterfeit goods, especially songs. The extent of IPR enforcement at the border is unknown. It would not be unreasonable to expect that Ethiopia’s prospects for growth arising from substantial foreign investment may be negatively affected if the Government fails or slows its efforts to engage in meaningful implementation of its IPR regime.