Status of Ethiopian intellectual property laws on the protection of AI-generated agricultural research outputs

AI is transforming the intellectual property landscape, presenting both challenges and opportunities for research, innovation, and businesses. This study aimed to perform an in-depth examination of the current state of Ethiopian intellectual property legislation concerning the protection of agricultural research outputs generated using artificial intelligence. This study was conducted through qualitative research methodology by reviewing academic literature, policy documents, and IP legislations. The Study focused on analyzing the impact of AI on Ethiopian patent, copyright, and data protection laws to protect agricultural research outputs. When AI-assisted research and innovations grow in agricultural research, the traditional IP regimes should not answer the ownership rights of the research output. The result shows that the current IP laws do not provide full protection for AI-generated research outputs. As a result, Ethiopia should revise the provisions of the existing patent, copyright, and data protection laws in consideration of AI-generated technologies.