The recent agreement between the Government of Ethiopia and Starbucks is, unfortunately, breeding more questions than answers, the main reason being the parties’ choice to keep the settlement of the long-fought trademark dispute secret. Senior government officials who signed the agreement on behalf of Ethiopia's coffee sector cite a confidentiality agreement they have signed with Starbucks as an excuse for not disclosing the details. Dr. Samuel Assefa, Ethiopia’s Ambassador to the US and Getachew Mengistie, Director of Ethiopian Intellectual Property Office (EIPO) have, however, shared some of the major elements of the agreement which are not bound by the confidentiality agreement during this interview. During the interview, they hinted that one of the major benefits the agreement brings for Ethiopia is that the country’s common law rights to the trademarks, Harar, Sidamo, and Yirgacheffe are recognized where the law applies. To find out what comfort such common law rights provide...