Introduction

Under the law of the state of Eritrea it is possible to obtain a protection for a trademark or a patent provided that the said trademark, industrial designs, copy rights or patent has been published in the Official Gazette of Eritrea, in a form of a cautionary notice. It is important to observe that Eritrea is not a party to any international convention.

Legal Effect of this System

The system of protecting trademarks or patent by publication of cautionary notices has the same legal effect as other legal systems. Once a trademark or patent is published in the Official Gazette it has full recognition by the authorities as the sole property of the applicant. Such publication gives the owner an exclusive right of use in Eritrea. Further, the owner will have the right to preclude others from using the trademark or patent or any similar trademark.

In case of infringement of any published trademark or patent, either criminal or civil action or both can prohibit it. Therefore, we can safely say that Publication in the Official Gazette has the same force of registration under other legal systems in the world.

Rights given to the Owner by virtue of Publication:

1. Exclusive right for using the trademark.
2. Right to oppose against any similar trademark published after that and,
3. Right to raise a criminal and/or civil action against any infringement whatsoever. This include:

• Illegal uses of the trademark by person other than the owner.
• Using similar or confusingly similar trademark in Eritrea by person other than the owner, and, 
• Any other sort of infringement.

Therefore, Once the Trademark or Patent is published it is regarded as the sole property of its owner. Therefore, any usage by others, physically or judicially, without the written permission of the proprietor shall be subject to civil and criminal liabilities under the Laws of State of Eritrea.

Trademark Publication Requirements

To publish a trademark in the Official Gazette, the following is required:

1. Full name, address and nationality of applicant
2. 5 prints of the mark.
3. Power of Attorney simply signed and sealed.
4. The class or classes of goods or services.
5. Languages of Publication and, 
6. A copy of the certificate of Registration of Trademark in the Country of Origin or in other country, if any.

Other information about Trademarks

Search
A search can be made first to ascertain the availability of the trademark. 

Opposition
Under the law of Eritrea, an opposition is classified as a suit to be filed before a Court of Law. For this purpose, such a suit must be filed within a reasonable time from the date of publication. Up to date, Eritrean courts has not laid down any established rule.

Languages for Publication
The publication languages are, Tigringia or Tigre (local language of Eritrea), Arabic and English. A trademark may be published in more than one language.

Why publishing in more than one language?

It is not officially required to publish the Cautionary Notice in more than one language, but such publication gives applicant the best protection that can be achieved.

The local language is the official language of the State of Eritrea. Secondly is Arabic language. If English / French / German / Italian etc. is the language of the client, we strongly recommend publication in English also. It is the practice as well. Multiple language publication ensures that all inhabitants can easily read, understand and thus be aware of the content of the Cautionary Notice.

Geographical information

Official Name  : State of Eritrea
Capital City : Asmara
Languages : Arabic, Trgringia and other dialects
Religions : Christian, Muslim and others
Population : 4,299,000 (an estimate)
Currency : Nakfa (ERN)
Border Countries : Djibouti, Ethiopia, Sudan

Business Information

According to the Provisional Commercial Code of Eritrea the minimum capital requirement for establishing a private company is Nakfa 15,000. Whereas for a share company it is Nakfa 50,000.
Business Income Tax - 2 to 30% of profit
Personal Income Tax - 2 to 30% of salary
Export goods are free of tax
Import goods - 2 to 100% of value
Transaction tax - 5% of the value
Service & Sales Tax - 5 to 10% of the value
An Investor can get a land for development from the government in any suitable location for free of charge or sometimes on lease basis depending on the project specification.

General Information

Climate : The climate is moderate clean and suitable for agriculture

Labour : Labour is cheap and adequate number can be found in both skilled and unskilled categories.

Facilities : Vastly developing with new technologies. Internet, telephone and facsmile are available easily.