30 July 2025
Ethiopia has officially acceded to the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, which is set to take effect on 15 August 2025. This marks a major step forward to aligning the country’s evolving intellectual property (IP) landscape with global standards.
Becoming a formal member of the Paris Union will allow applicants to claim priority from earlier foreign filings for both trade marks and patents — a key benefit for both local and international rights holders.
A further development is Ethiopia’s ratification of the Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks (Madrid Protocol). This will allow applicants to designate Ethiopia, through the central system offered by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), to obtain trade mark protection internationally.
The practical implementation of these changes will depend on updates to Ethiopia’s current IP legislation, which are still in progress.
While Ethiopia has long operated outside the major international IP frameworks, these legislative reforms also hint at Ethiopia’s potential accession to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), although it is not yet a member.
These moves ultimately reflect Ethiopia’s commitment to modernising its IP framework and encouraging innovation.
The Africa team at Von Seidels is closely monitoring these advances and is ready to assist clients navigating this transition.
If you have any questions about how these changes may affect your portfolio or filing plans in Ethiopia, please get in touch with our team at service@vonseidels.com.
