Revitalizing Intellectual Property Right Protection for Traditional Knowledge and Cultural Expression in Ethiopia: A Lesson from Kenya

Abstract

Ethiopia, being a country with multi-ethnic population is endowed with
plenty of traditional knowledge (TK) and traditional cultural expressions
(TCE). Nevertheless, the arrival of globalization has created fertile ground
for commercial exploitation and distortion of the TK and TCE of the country
by alien without any economic or moral incentive to their custodians or
preservers. Recently,efforts are being made to adopt sui-generis form of
intellectual property (IP) law to preserve, protect, and promote TK and TCE
at international, regional and national levels yet Ethiopia has no effective IP
law on TK and TCE. Hence, inspired by the inadequacy of the existing
Ethiopian IP laws in protecting, promoting, and commercializing TK and
TCE, this article proposes key forward to revitalize legal protection of TK
and TCE in the country. To this end, it utilized doctrinal and comparative
research that drawn lesson from a revolutionary experience of Kenya in this
regards. The paper advocates for enactment of a sui-generis law that rectify
deficiency of the existing IP law and adequately protect, preserve, promote,
and commercialize the TK and TCE. In so doing, it is suggested to follow the
Kenya’s footstep, ratify the Swakopmund protocol and adopt the sui-generis
law from Kenyan TK and TCE Act in line with relevant Model laws.