Poor Farmer

Keynote speech by Starbucks The 4th East African Fine Coffee Association (EAFCA) annual conference will be held from 15-17 February, 2007 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The conference attracts specialty coffee exporters, roasters, retailers, and coffee professionals from all over the world. According to its website, EAFCA is an association of coffee producers, processors, marketing people and organizations in ten Eastern and Southern African countries and its mission is “to establish and promote partnerships and networks amongst those participating and having an interest in quality coffee production, processing and marketing in the Eastern Africa coffee-growing region.” EAFCA hosted the first African Fine Coffees Conference and Exhibition in February 2004 in Nairobi, Kenya. The theme of this year’s convention is "A Pilgrimage to the Birth Place of Coffee" and includes an African Coffee Safari to the coffee growing regions of Ethiopia. Dub Hay, Starbucks Senior Vice President, Co...

Originally posted here on Feb 8, 2006 EIPO Press Release 8 February 2007 Top U.S. law firm Arnold & Porter LLP refutes Starbucks’ VP claim that signing a license agreement with Ethiopia would be against the law. Addis Ababa. Starbucks is misleading the public by claiming that Ethiopia’s efforts to trademark its prized coffee brands and license international distributors are illegal, says Robert Winter. Winter is partner at the Washington DC-based law firm Arnold & Porter LLP which has been advising Ethiopia in these efforts. Winter stated publicly today: “There is nothing illegal or unlawful about Ethiopia's program to obtain trademark protection for its coffee marks.” And he went on: “Moreover, there is nothing unlawful about Starbucks entering into a license agreement that acknowledges Ethiopia's trademark rights. To make this claim is flat wrong. Indeed, we believe that Ethiopia already enjoys effective trademark rights in its marks through widespread use of those ma...