Poor Farmer

As appeard on the Ethiopian Weekly, Addis Fortune By Wondwossen Mezlekia Seattle, Washington The world’s giant specialty coffee roaster and retailer, Starbucks, comes to Ethiopia, for a second time, amid growing pressure it faces in a number of countries, where it is accused of obstinately opposing Ethiopia’s US trademark efforts in order to maintain its market power. Last year, Starbucks CEO Jim Donald visited Prime Minister Meles Zenawi hoping in vain to convince the country to accept the company’s advice. Company representatives will be in Addis Ababa again this week to attend the East Africa Fine Coffee Association (EAFCA) annual meeting. It will continue to promote Starbucks’ interests while continuing its effort to prevent Ethiopia from taking control of its coffee trademarks in the US. Trademark ownership, as Starbucks knows because it aggressively protects its own trademarks, can help improve coffee prices for Ethiopia’s farmers. The Ethiopian coffee sector launched an innovati...

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...

In response to this report, Robert Nelson, National Coffee Association President & CEO wrote to Coffee Politics a rebuttal and detailed explanation to NCA’s previous letter. The President's letter says: "On February 6, 2006 you posted a headline that states “National Coffee Association Has the Records Wrong.” To say that your headline is misleading would be inaccurate; it is not misleading, but simply false. The National Coffee Association’s records are correct and consistent with the record at United States Trademark and Patent Office (USPTO)." I appreciate Mr. Nelson for taking the time to defend what his organization stands for but I disagree with his statements. Obviously, there are unanswered questions, thus a need for more research. At least, the insistence by the NCA indicates that there is more to those dates. I think the letter by Mr. Nelson hinted to interesting directions despite the grating statements and narrated supposition of motives for our question...

On the Timeline of events where I keep track of the chronology of the trademark dispute between Ethiopia and Starbucks/NCA, I recorded that NCA’s letter of protest was filed in 2005. This prompted Robert F. Nelson, National Coffee Association (NCA) President & CEO to write me an email saying that I have the records wrong. The email further said, “NCA's letters of protest were filed in the later half of 2006 and were not entered into the deliberative process at USPTO until after the USPTO rejected the Ethiopian applications to trademark Sidamo and Harrar.” So, I did some research in the USPTO libraries and found out that the disputed letter of protest (LOP) does have a Filling Date of March 17, 2005. It is clear that this date has caused all the confusion. I have corrected the record on the Timeline until other evidences reveal themselves otherwise. However, the President’s claim that, based on the dates indicated, NCA's letters had no bearing on the rejections of Harrar a...

Tue Feb 6, 2007 5:16am ET ADDIS ABABA, Feb 6 (Reuters) Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR.O: Quote , Profile , Research ), a major U.S. coffee buyer, has agreed to a scheme that recognises three of Ethiopia's prized coffee brands, a senior Ethiopian government official said on Tuesday. Ethiopia, which prides itself as the birthplace of coffee, has been in dispute with Starbucks (SBUX.O: Quote , Profile , Research ), saying the U.S. coffee shop chain had tried to block Africa's biggest producer from trade marking its best-known beans: Sidamo and Harar. "This is an innovative project that will help consumers understand the unique characteristics and true value of Ethiopian coffee and help to improve the livelihood of millions in Ethiopia for whom coffee is a vital source of income," Getachew Mengistie, head of the Ethiopian Intellectual Property Office, said. "We believe this type of commercial cooperation can create mutually beneficial relationships and become...

In another development, the National Coffee Association of U.S.A. (NCA) responded to Oxford Professor Douglas Holt’s essay Is Starbucks “Coffee That Cares?” A copy of the letter addressed to Douglas Holt is sent to Coffee Politics from Robert F. Nelson, President & CEO, National Coffee Association. To my knowledge, this is the first time the NCA joined the public discussion over the trademark dispute. This letter does not address the reasons why they opposed Ethiopia's trademark initiatives but we hope the NCA will soon come forth with firsthand information in the interest of the public's awareness. I am also curious to learn how the NCA can represent farmers' interests when opposing their trade strategies. Full text of the NCA letter is posted below. If you are new, start from here . ---------------- February 5, 2007 Douglas Holt Oxford Said Business School Park End Street Oxford, OX1 1HP United Kingdom Email: doug.holt@sbs.ox.ac.uk Dear Professor Holt: I read wi...