Ethiopian Intellectual property Office presented its draft Trademark Examination Manual/Directive to trademark agents in a view to enrich & identify basic procedural irregularities. In a consultation meeting held on November 8th 2018 of the Director General of IP Office pointed out the efforts being made to resolve procedural irregularities that are observed throughout the examination process.
Trademark agents commented on the draft Examination Manual/Directive on the basis of basic principles of the working trademark law. The agents also underlined lack of uniformity as a serious problem that ever locks the entire trademark registration process. Though the Manual/Directive is aimed to mitigate the subjective nature of the examination process, no consensus has been reached on the main issues of the document including the title itself.
Finally the Office promised to finalize the document by incorporating comments forwarded by agents.