Towards Harmonizing Ethiopia’s Trademark Protection Regime with TRIPS Standards: Bridging the Rift

Abstract

The protection of trademarks is necessitated to safeguard the interests of businesspersons and consumers thereby contributing to the country’s overall economic growth and development. This, in turn, calls for a strong trademarks system capable of adjusting itself with the dynamic interests of all stakeholders. Ethiopia has adopted relatively comprehensive trademark protection legislations in 2006. The country is also negotiating for the accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) since 2003 and this requires compliance with the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement, among others. Accordingly, this article assesses the compatibility of the Ethiopian system of trademark protection with the TRIPS standard of protection and finds that there exists certain degree of inconsistency between the two legal regimes. It acknowledges Ethiopia’s move to harmonize its trademark protection standards with the TRIPS requirements but concludes that a lot remains to be done to strike the balance between the country’s regulatory interests and the WTO regime.

Keywords: Ethiopia, Trademark Protection, Trademark Proclamation, Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, World Trade Organization

DOI: 10.7176/JLPG/121-06

Publication date:June 30^th 2022