Protection of Property Rights

Ethiopian Intellectual Property Authority-EIPA

EIPA was established in 2003 to provide legal protection for Intellectual property rights. The authority
mandated to administer and implement State policies on intellectual property (IP) to strengthen the
protection of IP rights in the country. Intellectual Property law deals with laws to protect and enforce
rights of the creators and owners of inventions, writing, music, designs and other works. There are
several areas of intellectual property including copyright, trademarks, patents, and trade secrets. As
it relates to IP, the overriding principle is that its creator, developer or inventor is the owner.

REAL PROPERTY

While the constitution recognizes and protects ownership of private property, all land in
Ethiopia belongs to “the people” and is administered by the government. Private ownership
does not exist, but land-use rights have been registered in most populated areas. As land is
public property, it cannot be mortgaged. Confusion with respect to the registration of urban
land-use rights, particularly in Addis Ababa, is common. The government retains the right to
expropriate land for the “common good” – which it defines as expropriation for commercial
farms, industrial zones, and infrastructure development – and offer replacement land or
monetary compensation to the previous owner. While the government claims to allocate
only sparsely settled or empty land to investors, it has in some cases forced people to
resettle. Traditional grazing land has often been defined as empty and expropriated,
leading to resentment, protests, and in some cases, conflict. In addition, leasehold
regulations vary in form and practice by region. In 2022, the state-owned Federal Land
Bank and Development Corporation inventoried all land under the ownership of public
institutions and made 630 hectares available in Addis Ababa for joint investment with
government in sectors seach as housing, health, hospitality, information communication
technology, and education.

We encourage potential investors to ensure their needs are communicated clearly to the
host government. It is important for investors to understand who had land-use rights
preceding them, and to research the attitude of local communities to an investor’s use of
that land, particularly in the region of Oromia, where conflict between international investors
and local communities has occurred. Successful investors in Ethiopia conduct thorough
due diligence on land titles at both the regional and federal levels and conduct
consultations with local communities regarding the proposed use of the land before
investing.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

Ethiopia is not on USTR’s Special 301 List. Ethiopia is not yet a signatory to several major
intellectual property rights (IPR) treaties, such as the Paris Convention for the Protection of
Industrial Property, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Copyright Treaty,
the Berne Convention for Literary and Artistic Works, the Madrid System for the
International Registration of Marks, or the Patent Cooperation Treaty. In 2020 Ethiopia
ratified the Marrakesh Treaty to facilitate access to published works for persons who are
blind, visually impaired, or otherwise print disabled. The government has expressed its
intention to accede to the Berne Convention, the Paris Convention, and the Madrid
Protocol. Because Ethiopia’s accession to the WTO is incomplete, it is not a party to the
Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS).

In November 2021, the government restructured the Ethiopian Intellectual Property Office
as the Ethiopian Intellectual Property Authority (EIPA) to strengthen its enforcement
capacity. This included granting the EIPA a mandate to establish an Intellectual Property
Tribunal to arbitrate intellectual property disputes and appeals, which previously could be
decided only in courts. EIPA is primarily tasked with protecting Ethiopian patents and
copyrights and fighting software piracy. Historically, however, the EIPA has struggled with a
lack of qualified staff and small budgets. Abuse of U.S. trademarks is rampant, particularly
in the hospitality and retail sectors. The government does not publicly track counterfeit
goods seizures, and no estimates are available. Ethiopia is not included in the United
States Trade Representative (USTR) Special 301 Report or Notorious Markets List.

Ethiopia’s Federal High Court is part of the African Regional Intellectual Property bench
book working group, which was established to prepare a bench book on IP crimes for
judges in Africa. The working group is financed by United States Department of Justice.
EIPA contact and office information is available at http://www.eipa.gov.et/
For additional information about the national law and for a local WIPO point of contact,
please see WIPO’s country profile at http://www.wipo.int/directory/en/ .
Embassy POC: Economic Officer, [email protected]
Copyright
What does Copyright mean?
According to the proclamation of Copyright and Neighboring Rights, 410/2004;
Copyright means an economic right subsisting in a work and where appropriate includes
moral right of an author.
What types of works are protected by copyright?
Based on the proclamation of 410/2004; these are lists of works that protected by
copyright:
 books, booklets, articles in reviews and newspaper, computer programs;
 speeches, lectures, addresses, sermons, and other oral works,
 dramatic, dramatico-musical works, pantomimes, chirographic works, and other works
created for stage production;
 computer programs;
 musical compositions;
 audiovisual works;
 works of architecture;
 works of drawing, painting, sculpture, engraving, lithography, tapestry, and other works of
fine arts;
 photographic works;
 illustrations, maps, plans, sketches, and three dimensional works related to geography,
topography, architecture or science;
What are the requirements of copyright?
The work must be original and it has to be fixed in a tangible form of expression.
Which works are not protected by copyright?
 any idea, procedure, system, method of operation, concept, formula numerical tables and
forms of general use, principle, discovery or mere date, even if expressed, described,
explained, illustrated or embodied in a work; and
 any official text of a legislative, administrative or of legal nature, as well as official
translations thereof.
What does neighboring rights mean?
 Neighboring rights means the rights of performers, producers of sound recordings,
broadcasting organizations over their works.
What are the rights of copyright holder?
 reproduction of the work;
 translation of the work;
 adaptation, arrangement or other transformation of the work;
 distribution of the original or a copy of the work to the public by sale or rental;
 importation of original or copies of the work;
 public display of the original or a copy of the work;
 performance of the work;
 broadcasting of the work;
 Other communication of the work to the public.
What are moral rights?
Based on the proclamation of 410/2004; the author of the work shall have the
following moral rights irrespective of whether or not he/she is owner of economic rights;
 to claim authorship of his/her work, except where the work is included, incidentally or
accidentally, in reporting current events by means of broadcasting;
 to remain anonyms or to use a pseudonym; and
 to object any distortion, mutilation or other alteration of his work, where such an act is or
would be prejudicial to his honor or reputation;
 To publish his work.
Neighboring rights:
 Rights of Performers;
 a performer have the exclusive right to carry out or authorize the broadcasting or other
communication to the public of his performance;
 the fixation of his unfixed performance;
 the reproduction of a fixation of his performance, in any manner or form;
 making available the first fixation of his performance, or copies thereof;
 rental or public lending of a fixation of his performance, or copies thereof irrespective of the
ownership of the copy rented or lent;
 Making his fixed performance available to the public by wire or wireless means, in such a
way that members of the public may have access to them from a place or at a time
individually chosen by them.
 Moral rights of performers;
 to be identified as the performer as regards his live performances, the performances fixed in
sound recordings;
 Object to any distortion, mutilation or other modification of his performances fixed in sound
recordings.
Rights of sound recording producers:
 Reproduction of his sound recordings in any manner or form;
 Importation of copies of his sound recordings;
 Distribution to the public the original or copies of his sound recordings that have not already
been subject to a distribution authorized by the producer, by sale or other means of transfer
of owner ship;
 Rental or lending to the public a copy of the sound recording, irrespective of the owner ship
of the copy rented or lent;
 Making available to the public of a sound recording. By wire or wireless means, in such a
way that member of the public may have access to it from a place or at a time individually
chosen by them.
Rights of broadcasting organizations
 Rebroadcasting of its broadcasts;
 Fixation of its broadcasts;
 Reproduction of fixation of its broadcasts.
Ways of Assigning and Licensing of copyright and related rights:
 There are two ways
 Economic rights may be assigned or licensed in whole or in part;
 The rights can be transferred in accordance with the law to heirs or legatees.
Duration of copyright and related rights:
According to the proclamation 410/2004;
 Copyrights belong to the author during his lifetime and to the heirs or legatees for 50(fifty)
years from the death of the author;
 The economic rights in relation to a photographic works lasts for 25 (twenty five) years;
 The economic rights in relation to broadcasting works are protected from the moment the
broadcast takes place until the expiry of 20 (twenty) years following the year in which the
broadcast took place.
Types of copyright infringements:
 Selling or reproducing once work without consent or without knowing of copyright owners;
 Collecting and coping once work without permission.
What are The Legal Penalties for Copyright Infringement?
According to the Copyright and Related Rights Proclamation of 410/2004 and its
amendment 872/2014, there are two types of penalties;
 civil remedies
 The amount of compensation for moral damage determined based on the extent of the
damage and not be less than birr 100,000 (birr one hundred thousand).
 Criminal sanctions
 whosoever intentionally violates a protected right will punished with rigorous imprisonment
for 5-10 years and pays in the range from 25,000 (birr twenty five thousand) to 50,000 (birr
fifty thousand);
 whosoever by gross negligence violates a protected right will punished with rigorous
imprisonment for 1-5 years and pays in the range from 5,00(birr five thousand) to 25,000
(birr twenty five thousand);
 including seizure, forfeiture and destruction of the infringing goods and of any materials and
implements used in the commission of the offence;

Patent in Ethiopia
Patent is a legal form of protection that provides a person or legal entity with exclusive
rights to exclude others from making, using, or selling a concept or invention for the duration
of the patent. This exclusive right is granted by the EIPO for an invention that is new,
involves an inventive step and is capable of industrial application.

Patentable Inventions
NOVELTY
 Not anticipated by prior art
 Prior art consist everything disclosed to the public, anywhere in the world by publication legible
form or by oral disclosure, by use or in any other way.

INVENTIVE STEP
 Compared to the prior art if the invention is not obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the
art.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY
 An invention shall be considered as industrially applicable where it can be made or used in
handicraft, agriculture, fishery, social services and any other sectors.

Non Patentable Inventions

 Inventions contrary to public order or morality.
 Plant or animal varieties or essentially biological processes for the production of plants or
animals
 Schemes, rules or methods for playing games or performing commercial and industrial activities
and computer programs.
 Discoveries, scientific theories and mathematical methods.
 Methods for treatment of the human or animal body by surgery or therapy, as well as diagnostic
methods practiced on the human or animal body.

Types of Patents
1. Utility patents is granted to anyone who invents or discovers any new and useful process,
machine, article of manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement
thereof;
2. Design patents is granted to anyone who invents a new, original, and ornamental design for an
article of manufacture; and
3. Plant patents is granted to anyone who invents or discovers and asexually reproduces any
distinct and new variety of plant.

International Patent Classification

 The International Patent Classification (IPC) is a hierarchical classification system used to
classify and search patent documents.
 It also serves as an instrument for orderly arrangement of patent documents, a basis for selective
dissemination of information and a basis for investigating the state of the art in given fields of
technology.
 The seventh edition of the IPC consists of 8 sections, which are divided into 120 classes, 628
subclasses and approximately 69,000 groups.

The 8 sections in patent classifications are:

A. Human Necessities;
B. Performing Operations; Transporting;
C. Chemistry; Metallurgy;
D. Textiles; Paper;
E. Fixed Constructions;
F. Mechanical Engineering; Lighting; Heating; Weapons; Blasting;
G. Physics;
H. Electricity.
You can access the full International Patent classification HERE

Right to a Patent
 The right to a patent shall belong to the inventor.
 If two or more persons have jointly made an invention the right to the patent shall belong to them
jointly.
 In the absence of an agreement to the contrary, the right to a patent for an invention made in the
execution of a contract of service or employment shall belong to the person having
commissioned the work or the employer.
 Invention made without any relation to an employment or service contract and without the use of
the employer’s resources, data means, materials or equipment shall belong solely to the
employee or the person commissioned.
 In the absence of an express term to the contrary, inventions made by the employee or person
commissioned which do not come within sub-article 3 of this article and which result from both
the personal contribution of the author and the resources, data, means, materials or equipment of
the employer shall be owned jointly in equal shares.

Duration of a Patent
 A patent shall be granted for an initial period of fifteen years commencing from the filling date
of the application for protection. However, the validity of the patent may be extended for a
further period of five years provided that proof is furnished that the invention is being properly
worked in Ethiopia.
 Termination of a Patent
A patent shall terminate if:
 The patentee surrenders it by a written declaration to the Commission or
 The annual fee is not paid in due time.

Surrender of a Patent
 May be limited to one or more claims of the patent,
 Shall be immediately registered and published by the Commission, and
 Which has been subjected to a license shall only take effect upon the submission of a declaration
by which the registered licensee consents to the surrender.

Invalidation of a Patent
A patent shall be invalidated in whole or in part by the court upon request by an
interested party if it is proved that:
 The subject matter of the patent is not patentable
 The description does not disclose the invention in a manner sufficiently clear & complete for it to
be carried out by a person skilled in the art.
 Any invalidated patent in whole or in part shall be deemed void from the date of grant of the
patent.

Trademark
What is trade mark?
“Trademark” means any visible sign capable of distinguishing goods or services of one
person from those of other persons; it includes words, designs, letters, numerals,
colours or the shape of goods or their packaging or the combinations thereof.
What should I do before using a trade mark?
It is important to make sure your trade mark will not infringe any registered or
unregistered trademarks which already exist. The consequences of not checking
whether your trade mark is available for use before starting to use it can be serious.
You could be sued for trade mark infringement, be forced to stop using the trade mark
and be forced to pay damages and costs.
While a search is not only critical, it is also fairly complicated and should be conducted
by a specialist. The specialist’s search will cover identical trade mark applications and
registrations as well as any confusingly similar trade mark applications and registrations
that could prevent you from using and registering your trade mark.
How do I protect my trade mark?
You need to obtain trade mark registration.
Why register a trade mark?
There are a number of significant advantages in registering your trademarks including:
 The exclusive right to use your trade mark in relation to the goods/services covered by the
registration throughout the country covered by registration
 The ability to prevent the use or registration of the same or any confusingly similar trade
mark for the same or any confusingly similar goods or services + the prevention of
 infringement of a trade mark is easier, less time consuming and less costly in cases where a
registered trade mark is held as opposed to proceedings based on unregistered rights.
 Registration allows for the effective appointment and control of licensees and franchisees.
Trade mark registration in one country can assist trade mark registration in other countries.
Can all trademarks be registered?
No. A trade mark cannot be registered if it is not capable of distinguishing your goods or
services from the same or similar goods or services of other businesses in the market
place.
In general trademarks that cannot be registered include:
Those that conflict with an earlier registered trade mark, descriptive words, laudatory
words, common surnames, common geographical names, deceptive names, sounds,
smells
How long is the trade mark registration process?
The period from application to registration is approximately not more than three months,
assuming there are no major objections or oppositions.
Trademarks Eligible for Registration
Any trademark that is capable of clearly distinguishing goods or services of a person
from those of other persons shall be eligible for registration.
A trademark may be registered in black-and white or color. A trademark, which is
registered in black-and-white, shall be protected in all color combinations; a trademark,
which is registered in color, shall only be protected in the color combination in which it is
registered.
A trademark eligible for registration may include elements which are not subject to
protection unless they decrease the distinctive character of the trademark or infringe the
rights of other persons.
Trademarks non eligible for Registration
The following trademarks may not be eligible for registration:
A trademark which consists of sound or smell;
A trademark which is incapable of distinguishing the goods or services of one person
from those of other persons;
A trademark that is contrary to public order or morality;
A trademark consisting exclusively of sings or indications which designate the kind,
quality, quantity, intended purpose, value, geographical origin of goods or services, the
time of production of the goods or rendering of the services, or other characteristics of
the goods or services:
A trademark consisting exclusively of signs or indications which have become
customary in the current language use in relation to such goods or services for which
the registration of a trademark is applied for, or which have become customary in
economic and business activities:
A trademark consisting exclusively of a shape which results from the nature of the good
itself or that is necessary to obtain a technical result of the good or that gives substantial
value to the good;
A trademark that is likely to mislead the public or the business community, in particular
as regards the geographical origin of the goods or services concerned, or their nature or
characteristics;
unless authorized by a competent authority, a trademark which is identical with or an
imitation of or contains an armorial bearing, flag or other emblem, a name or
abbreviation or initials of the name of, or official sign or hallmark adopted by any state,
intergovernmental organization, or other organization created by international
conventions.
A trademark that consists exclusively the Surname of the applicant,
A trademark mark that consists exclusively the full name of an alive individual with out
his consent.
Types of Trademark
Product Mark. is a mark that is used on a good or on a product rather than on a service.
Service Mark. is similar to the product mark but a service mark is used to represent a
service rather than a product.
International trademark classification
International trademark classification is established by the Committee of Experts of the
Nice Union and set forth in the International Classification of Goods and Services for the
Purposes of the Registration of Marks (“Nice Classification”), published by the World
Intellectual Property Organization (“WIPO”). The products for which trademarks are
registered are categorized using the 45 product classes of the International
Classification of Goods and Services under the Nice Agreement. Classes 1 to 34 are
used for goods and classes 35 to 45 for services.
How long does a trade mark registration last?
A trade mark registration lasts for 7 years from the date of the application and can be
renewed indefinitely for further periods of 7 years. Trademarks can be restored and
renewed within 9 months from the date of expiration. No evidence is required for a
restoration application.
Does registering a Trade Name also mean that my trade mark is protected?
No. Commercial law is different from trade mark law. You cannot stop someone from
using a trade mark when it is similar to yours merely by registering your Tread name.
Tribunal

Establishment, Duty and Responsibility of Intellectual Property Tribunal

In accordance with Article 5 (1) of Proclamation No. 320/1995, the office was
established to achieve the objective of adequate legal protection for and exploitation of
intellectual property in the country, Regarding to the services provided by the Office a
clear, efficient and effective appeal system is needed, Due to the necessity Ethiopian
intellectual property tribunal established and enter into force on September 6/2018.

Establishment

The IP tribunal established based Article 44(1) of Copyright and Neighboring Rights
Protection (Amendment) Proclamation No. 872/2014 and the Federal Supreme Court
Cassation decision file no 71216, with an authority to judge, adjudicate on, or determine
claims of civil cases arising in relation to Intellectual Property, Except cases related to
extra-contractual liability.
Functions of the Tribunal

The functions and power of the Tribunal are laid down in Article 6 of Intellectual
Property Tribunal Establishment Directive No. 1/2010″ The Tribunal’s function is to:-
 hear appeals from any person aggrieved by a decision regarding registration and
opposition of trademark, patent, Patent of introduction, Utility Model, industrial
design

 hear appeals against decisions made by the office’s directorates regarding to

renewal and matters related to rights on extension requirement
 hear any appeals raised in terms of cancellation or invalidation of trademark, patent, Patent
of introduction, utility Model, industrial design.
 entertain any compulsory licenses cases and related matters submitted by the
government or individuals in connection with intellectual property
 Civil cases filed in accordance with the Copyright and Related Rights Protection
Proclamation No. 872/2007 specially

 Matters related to registration and recognition granted for a collective

management society.
 hear any appeals raised with regard to royalty collection, distribution, rating
and scheming
 any cases related to decision made by collective management society with
regard to licensing a copyrighted works to use with the requirement of users
(Customer Request).

The tribunal will examine the cases with relevant laws and International agreements
and gives its judgment and decision proposal and send it to general director for final
decision.
Traditional Medicine Development and Branding: Success Stories

 The Project of the Ethiopian Intellectual Property Authority (EIPA) with the support of
the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO DLDC) and the University of
Gondar.
 The Ethiopian Intellectual Property Authority (EIPA), in partnership with the World
Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO’s Division for Least Developed Countries)
and the University of Gondar (UoG), has been working to support Traditional Medical
Communities in developing their products and Services and integrate their business
activities with intellectual Property tools with an emphasis given to trademarks in the
branding journey!
 This project was conducted from May 2021 to July 2023 in 9 regions of Ethiopia with
the inclusion of 84 selected Traditional Medicine practitioners from all over Ethiopia.
As we ended the pilot project, it was an honor to see a practical shift of Traditional
Medicine Practitioners in value-adding to their products, providing better services,
and expanding their market share with the help of Intellectual Property Tools such as
their registered Trademarks
Training of Trainers of the National IP Academy
The final and fourth round Training of Trainers Program of the National Intellectual Property
Academy of Ethiopia organized by WIPO and EIPA carried out from Oct 02-06, 2023 at
Addis Ababa. A group of national professionals who were selected from EIPA experts,
Universities, agents and will become trainers attended the session.
While opening the program, Mr. Endalew Mosisa, Deputy Director General, said that the
establishment of the IP Academy will serve as a hub of excellence, fostering a community of
trainers who will play a pivotal role in raising awareness, promoting understanding and
developing expertise in IP. Through the academy we can empower individuals to become
advocates for innovation, ensuring that ideas, inventions, and creations are protected and
appropriately rewarded, he added.
Mr. Biruk Haile Gereyo, Project Consultant of the National Intellectual Property Academy of
Ethiopia, recalled that three training of trainers Programs with variety contents on IP
knowledge and skills were delivered for the same group by the joint facilitation of WIPO and
EIPO so far and this final session concludes the training phase.
The training focused on Advanced Teaching Methodologies and provided with practical
engagement of participants in a hybrid of in person and virtual participation; aims to provide
the designated trainers of the national IP training center with the necessary knowledge and
skills to train targeted audiences. Ms. May Hassan, IP Consultant and Trainer of the
National IP Academy (NIPA) of Egypt and Mr. Boru Shana Gufu, Master Instructional
System Designer gave the training.
In the closing session, Mr. Woldu Yemssel, the Director General of EIPA said that, relying
on Knowledge based economy and uplifting technological capacity requires effective and
efficient Intellectual property system employment. Ethiopia has potential assets of
Intellectual property on Geographical Indications products and others. In order to effectively
employ IP in a way it facilitates development, enhancing the sector is very important. Such
training and capacity building play a great role to increase the number of IP professionals
and capacity of promoting IP and implement the system, he emphasized. He also thanks
WIPO for its project to provide the training.
Project Specialist at WIPO Academy, Mariia Bychkovska, said in the four consecutive
training of trainers of IP, important topics of IP were presented with the collaboration of
WIPO and EIPA. The support of WIPO will continue, she added.
One of trainees said IP impacts every sector of development and contribute significant role
in inspiring economic activities. Capacity building with providing such professional training
helps to fill knowledge and skill gaps in the sector. In this regard, WIPO’s support is highly
appreciable.
After the attending of this final training program, the participants will be certified.

Geographical Indications project

A three year project aiming to introduce a Geographical Indications (GIs) system suited to
the Ethiopian local and national context through designing a legislative framework,
implementing a pilot GI on coffee and capacity-building efforts among private and public
sectors inaugurated on 24 May, 2023 at Addis Ababa.
In the framework of this project, a French program funded by AFD, Ethiopian Intellectual
Property Authority (EIPA), Ethiopian Coffee and Tea Authority (ECTA), Jimma University,
and CIRAD collaborate to implement the project “Geographical Indications for Origin-linked
Products in Ethiopia”.
His Excellency Dr. Belete Molla, Minister of Innovation and Technology announced the
official launch of the project and said that it is very important to guide Ethiopia’s well-known
agricultural products through the GI system because it enables to enhance economic
development and market competitiveness.
Former Director General of the EIPA His Excellency Dr. Ermias Yemanebarhan explained
the work done to introduce GI and said that as Ethiopia is potentially endowed with valuable
agricultural products it is important to implement the system to benefit systematically from it.
Director General of ECTA, Dr. Adugna Debala, also spoke about the benefits of the system
in the coffee sector.
The coordinators and representatives of the project explained the purpose and
implementation of the project and a discussion was held with the participants.
Assemblies of the Member States of WIPO-2023
The Sixty-Fourth Series of Meetings of the Assemblies of the Member States of World
Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) which stays from July 6 to 14, 2023 is taking
place at the WIPO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.
Ethiopia is represented by H.E Mr. Woldu Yemessel Director General of the Ethiopian
Intellectual Property Authority, H.E Mr. Tsegab Kebebew, Ambassador Extraordinary &
Plenipotentiary, Permanent Representative of the FDRE to the United Nations Office at
Geneva and other international Organizations in Switzerland and other delegates.
On the today’s session of speech by Country delegates, H.E Mr. Woldu appreciated WIPO’s
key role in ensuring effective and development-oriented implementation of global IP system
that supports developing countries, particularly LDCs in harnessing their resources towards
knowledge-based sustainable development. Despite some critical challenges, Ethiopia’s
homegrown growth and transformation plan, which is a pathway to prosperity, has resulted
in significant progress. It has also created conducive situation for the development of
competitive IP system, He added.
He has also vowed the commitment of Ethiopia to double its efforts in fast tracking the
approval of its national IP policy and the revision of some of our laws to facilitate the
process of accession to the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property and
the Madrid protocol.
On our national capacity, we are working on a proclamation for the IP protection of TK and
Traditional Cultural Expressions. We have also recently launched an initiative to establish
legal framework for Geographical Indicator based rights.
The Ethiopian delegates will also meet WIPO’s Director General and have side meetings.
Ethiopia and China to strengthen bilateral relation on IP matters

In a bilateral meeting between the CNIPA Commissioner Dr. Shen Changyu and the
EIPA Director General Mr. Woldu Yemessel held on the side lines of IPR conferences
in Jinan(China) last week , both countries reaffirmed to scale up the existing
partnership and strengthen bilateral relations on matters related to the innovation,
utilization and protection of Intellectual property rights. Mr. Woldu appreciated the
ongoing support of CNIPA and highlighted the need to upgrade the bilateral relations
so as to include the GIs based IPR that highly support revitalization of rural
economies and communities. Dr. Shen, on his part, reaffirmed that China will
continue its support to the EIPA and the joining of Ethiopia the BRICS block will help
strengthen not only bilateral but also multilateral cooperation on IPR and related
matters.
The bilateral meeting was held on the sides of the 12th China Intellectual Property
Annual Conference and International Seminar on Geographical Indications organized
jointly CNIPA and WIPO) and held in Jinan, Shandong province. In the seminar
entitled “Intellectual Property as a Tool to Promote Economy and Rural
Development”, variety of topics related to GIs were presented and discussed and
China’s experience in the protection and promotion of GIs based IPRs were shared,
including with field visits and study. Participants from invited countries, including
Ethiopia, and officials from the ARIPO & QAPI shared their experiences. Participants
highly appreciated both the excellent organization and the issues discussed impact
on rural development.
EIPA and CNIPA signed MOU in Nov. 2011 with the aim of establishing cooperation in
the creation, utilization and protection of IPRs. A plan of action was signed in Dec.
2016 which outlined the partnership of both institutions in 2017-2018. It is believed
that the current bilateral meeting will help revitalize and upscale their cooperation.