Thursday May 3, 06:41 PM
Ethiopia, Starbucks to sign coffee trademark deal
ADDIS ABABA (AFP) - US coffee giant Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX - news) and Ethiopia are to sign an agreement this month to allow the country to brand its speciality coffee in America, ending a long trademark tussle, Oxfam said Thursday.
The British charity said the two sides had agreed in principle on the deal, of which details will be announced after the signing at a yet unspecified date.
"This is an important step for Ethiopia as it engages with coffee companies on its innovative trademarking initiative designed to help alleviate poverty," Raymond C. Offenheiser, president of Oxfam America, said in a statement.
Oxfam "welcomed ... news that the government of Ethiopia and the Starbucks Coffee Company have agreed in principle to sign a licensing, distribution and marketing agreement that recognises the importance and integrity of Ethiopia's specialty coffee names."
Ethiopia had applied to trademark its most famous coffee names -- Sidamo, Harar and Yigacheffe -- to control their use and allow farmers to receive a greater share of the retail price.
But in August, the US Patent and Trademark Office ruled in favour of an appeal by the National Coffee Association (NCA), which represents US coffee roasters including Starbucks, against the trademark application.
The NCA said the bid was bad economics and bad for Ethiopian farmers. Starbucks said Ethiopia would be better served by branding its coffee beans through geographic designations.
Offenheiser said the agreement would help Ethiopia's 15 million people who rely on the coffee sector.
Ethiopia is the world's sixth largest coffee producer and Africa's top producer and exporter. It is also the world's second biggest consumer after Brazil.
|
|
|
