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.