ADDIS ABABA - The government of Ethiopia issued Trademark Registration and Protection Proclamation No. 501/2006 on July 7, 2006 as the first statutory trademark law that provides effective protection for trademarks in Ethiopia.

According to the Proclamation, the previous Hybrid Cautionary Notice/Deposit System is changed to a Formal Examination System.

The Proclamation brought amendments in the following main areas:

Any trademark that is capable of clearly distinguishing goods or services of a person from those of other persons shall be eligible for registration, including words, designs, letters, numerals, colors or the shape of goods or their packaging or the combinations thereof.

The following trademarks are not admissible 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 that is likely to mislead the public or the business community;
- A trademark that consists exclusively of the surname of the applicant.

The following documents are required for filing trademark applications in Ethiopia:

- Three copies of a reproduction of the trademark;
- A list of the goods and services in accordance with the International Classification and the classes’ numbers;
- A duly authenticated Power of Attorney, if the application for registration is filed through an agent.

The registration of a trademark may be renewed for consecutive periods of seven years.

A trademark shall be cancelled, if it is not used in Ethiopia during a continuous period of at least three years preceding the date of the request for the cancellation of the trademark.

The Proclamation entered into force upon its publication in the "Federal Negarit Gazeta" No. 37 of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia on the aforementioned date. However, the implementing regulations have not yet been issued.