Poor Farmer

What's in a name? Ethiopia's battle against Starbucks Foreign Policy February 28, 2007 Ethiopia, fed up with getting short-changed when selling its popular coffee products to the West, has been in legal conflict with Starbucks since 2005. Ethiopia complains that while a pound of coffee sold in the United States nets Ethiopian farmers about $1, the same pound of coffee sells for $26 at Starbucks under the name "Shirkina Sun-Dried Sidamo." Ethiopia argues that the high price for its coffee is not just the result of roasting, packaging or marketing in the United States, but because there is something consumers intrinsically value in Ethiopian coffee. Ethiopia is frustrated that it hasn't been able to capitalize on the "intellectual property" of its coffee-producing regions, and wants that to change. In March 2005, Ethiopia filed a case with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to trademark the names of three of its renowned coffee-producing regions (Yirga...

A few weeks back, Starbucks Senior VP Dub Hay said on this video that Ethiopia's coffee trademark attempts are illegal. Bob Winter of Arnold and Porter LLP responds on YouTube to Starbucks talks about coffee farmers in Africa and says that Hay's claim is totally absurd. You might wonder what Hay would have to say. Well, a comment posted - as Starbucks Coffee Company - on YouToube reads: "Since our 1st video was posted, a lot has happened. When we posted that video we felt the information was correct & since we've learned a lot & realized the information about the legality of the trademark was not accurate. Dub & other Starbucks partners recently visited Africa & met with the Ethiopian Govt. We agreed not to oppose Ethiopia's efforts to obtain trademarks for its specialty coffees, Sidamo, Harar/Harrar & Yirgacheffe, & its efforts to create a network of licensed distributors. "Also, we agreed to work together to help increase Ethiopian ...