Ethiopia calls upon Starbucks to support its plan to trademark coffee names

Oct 26, 2006 — Ethiopia urges Starbucks to support the country’s plan to trademark speciality coffee names, a process that could bring Ethiopian farmers an estimated $88m annually.

The Ethiopian government believes that companies like Starbucks are morally bound to support Ethiopia’s efforts to gain more control over its coffee trade and a larger share of the earnings for millions of coffee farmers living in poverty.

Last year the Ethiopian government filed applications to trademark its most famous coffee names, Sidamo, Harar and Yirgacheffe. Securing the rights to these names would enable Ethiopia to capture more value from the trade, by controlling their use in the market and thereby enabling farmers to receive a greater share of the retail price.

Ethiopia was surprised to see Starbucks – which is worth $6bn – launching a protest against Ethiopia’s application to the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The USPTO has since denied Ethiopia’s applications for Sidamo and Harar, creating serious obstacles to its efforts to get a fair price for these coffees.

In reaction to the unacceptable position taken by Starbucks, Seth Petchers of Oxfam International’s Make Trade Fair campaign said:

“Starbucks’ behaviour is indefensible. The company must change tactics and set an example for others by supporting Ethiopia’s plan to help millions of struggling farmers earn a greater share of the profits.”

“Intellectual property ownership now makes up a huge proportion of the total value of world trade but rich countries and businesses capture most of this. Ethiopia, the birthplace of coffee, and one of the poorest countries in the world, is trying to assert its rights and capture more value from its product. It should be helped, not hindered,” said Ron Layton, chief executive of Light Years IP, a Washington DC-based intellectual property rights organisation that is helping to advise the Ethiopian government.

Berhanu Kebede, Ethiopia’s Ambassador to the UK, added “Ethiopian coffee is a prime product whose producers should earn a fair price for their hard work. It is also encumbent upon the international community to support this novel endeavour, which aims to fully empower coffee farmers in Ethiopia. This campaign has a pivotal role in redressing the unfairness of the international trading system.”

If Ethiopia successfully trademarks the names of its speciality coffees, farmers could earn more from them, making a vast difference in the lives of some of the poorest people in the world. In contrast, the few extra cents per pound would hardly make a dent in the profits of multi-national companies like Starbucks which earned over $3.7 billion last year.

Tadesse Meskela, head of the Oromia Coffee Farmers’ Cooperative Union in Ethiopia remarked: “Coffee shops can sell Sidamo and Harar coffees for up to $26 a pound because of the beans’ speciality status, but Ethiopian coffee farmers only earn between 60 cents to $1.10 for their crop, barely enough to cover the cost of production. I think most people would see that as an injustice.”

The embassy was surprised to learn about Starbucks’ recent intervention in the USPTO decision – through prompting the National Coffee Association of USA, Inc. (NCA), of which it is a leading member, to oppose the approval of the trademarks.

Starbucks brought the application to the attention of the NCA a year after Ethiopia’s trademark application was submitted. Ethiopia is nevertheless continuing to pursue its trademark applications in the US. At the same time, it is asking Starbucks and other companies to sign voluntary licensing agreements that immediately acknowledge the country’s ownership of the coffee names, regardless of whether they have been issued a trademark. The licensing agreements will allow Ethiopia to pursue its strategy of enhancing its trading capacity and earning an estimated additional $88 million per year for its coffee sector, including millions of poor coffee farmers.

To this end, the Ethiopian government presented an agreement for Starbucks to sign in September, recognising the country’s rights to the names Sidamo, Harar and Yirgacheffe and stating that additional benefits generated would go to small-scale coffee farmers who are currently living on the brink of survival. However, Starbucks has yet to respond affirmatively.

The Ethiopian embassy in London fully endorses Oxfam’s call on Starbucks to show leadership for other coffee companies by immediately recognising Ethiopia’s rights in this case and by signing the licensing agreement.

Starbucks works hard to protect and promote its own name and brand vigorously throughout the world and should not be indulging in an activity that deprives Ethiopia of the right to establish its ownership of these coffee brands, which rightly belong to it.

For more information or to set up an interview with Berhanu Kebede, Ethiopian ambassador to the UK, please ring 020 7838 3880/mobile 07717 603163

For more information, or to set up an interview with Tadesse Meskela, Seth Petchers or Ron Layton, please contact Helen DaSilva at [email protected], +617-728-2409 (office) or +617-331-2984 (cell).

Editor’s Note:

The plan to trademark Ethiopian speciality coffee names is being developed and run by the Ethiopian Intellectual Property Office (EIPO) and undertaken with some grant funding from the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID).

Under the same EIPO project, Harar, Yirgacheffe and Sidamo are being trade marked in other coffee consuming countries including Canada, Japan and the EU.