After all, the Ethiopia coffee trademark initiative is alive although the project appears to have run out of steam due mainly to bureaucracy and lack of leadership from the government's side. I am one of the strong proponents of the idea of utilizing Intellectual Property resources as a leverage to demand for a fair share from the retail prices of the finest coffee brands. I want and hope to see Ethiopia's impoverished coffee farmers start benefiting from the world renowned brands, which are the results of the farmers' hard work. This dream was recently overshadowed by the unexpected twist of events that happened in the country following the establishment of the ECX. For one, it has been difficult to comprehend how the country can pursue a forward-looking brilliant marketing strategies while looking backwards and resort to bundling brand name coffee lots with commodities. To me, the very idea of capitalizing on the coffee IP resources is essentially a departure from the sta...