A short introduction for coffee companies selling Ethiopia’s TM Coffees
The Ethiopian Coffee Trademarking and Licensing Initiative is led by the Ethiopian Intellectual Property Office (EIPO) in conjunction and consultation with a specially formed Ethiopian Fine Coffee Stakeholder Committee including private exporters and Sidamo, Oromia and Yirgacheffe cooperative unions and other local organizations supporting the coffee sector. The Initiative has financial support from the UK’s Department for International Development, receives advice and training from Washington DC based NGO Light Years IP and has legal representation from U.S. law firm Arnold & Porter LLP. The Arnold & Porter London office manages the non-US trademarking.
Conceived in 2004, the Ethiopian Coffee Trademarking and Licensing Initiative’s overall objective is to empower fine coffee producers, workers and exporters to increase and secure their coffee export income over time. Ethiopia is registering Trademarks (TMs) in foreign markets for Yirgacheffe, Sidamo and Harar (Harrar) and then licensing importers and others involved in the distribution of these coffees. Ethiopia has to date registered trademarks for Yirgacheffe, Sidamo and Harar in more than 28 countries. Other registrations are proceeding in Brazil, Saudi Arabia, China, India, South Africa, and Australia.
Licensing in the USA and other countries has begun. A number of coffee companies have already signed the Licensing Agreement or a Letter of Intent and are becoming licensed distributors, part of the new network of licensed distributors. In early February 2007 the Ethiopian Fine Coffee Stakeholder Committee held its first joint meeting with licensees and interested coffee companies to discuss specific guidelines for participation in this new network of licensed distributors.
If your company imports, retails or distributes Sidamo, Harar (Harrar) or Yirgacheffe coffees, joining the network of licensed distributors will benefit both you and those involved in the production process of these coffees. These coffees will be under TM protection and subject to a careful brand management strategy and supported by public promotions. Ethiopia’s management of its fine coffee brands and a strong partnership with its network of licensed distributors can bring benefits to the whole industry. This new partnership also aims to address some of the problems faced by both farmers and wholesalers and retailers, such as very low producer prices and short supply of high quality Arabica.
As the network of licensed distributors expands, one expectation is that the price of Sidamo, Harar (Harrar) and Yirgacheffe coffees will become less and less tied to the volatile NY commodity price. Delinking from the New York 'C' Contract means greater stability and predictability in the selling price that farmers and distributors within Ethiopia will receive. It removes the risk for distributors that the price may suddenly jump up and for farmers that it might suddenly plummet. This in turn, allows for a far greater degree of accurate business planning by all parties.
Fine coffees like Sidamo, Harar and Yirgacheffe are in short supply worldwide and predicted large shifts of consumers to these coffees will call for greater supplies of Ethiopia's finest. The sad fact is that the high retail prices for Sidamo, Harar and Yirgacheffe have not been translated into remunerative export prices and returns to coffee farmers are as low as 2% of the export price. As a result, there is evidence that in some places in Ethiopian farmers are resorting to planting narcotic crops that have a higher local selling price than coffee. Most Ethiopian coffee experts are certain that getting more predictable prices and more return from producing high quality coffee will eliminate the incentive to pull up coffee plants. This should yield a more stable coffee supply for importers. If initiatives like this can show these farmers that there is more money to be made by holding on to coffee farms and producing high quality coffee (rather than high volume commodity coffee or short term narcotic crops) there is a dramatic incentive to tend coffee trees well and harvest more high quality coffee.
The Licensing Agreement itself is similar to distribution agreements in many other industries. It acknowledges Ethiopia’s ownership of Yirgacheffe, Harar, and Sidamo, and sets out the basis for joint marketing promotions, information disclosure and overall brand enhancement of these Ethiopian coffees. All licenses are royalty-free.
You can view a license agreement for your region on our 'Trademark License Agreements' page.
This website is intended to serve as an introduction to the process and licensing approach. We recognize that you will have further questions and want to discuss the next steps in more detail. The Ethiopian Intellectual Property Office in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia or the Ethiopian Embassies in Washington DC, London and Berlin can provide you with more information on any part of the initiative that you may require or arrange for an in person consultation. Please telephone or write with your questions or concerns to any of the following key contacts:
Ethiopian Intellectual Property Office (EIPO)
Director General: Getachew Mengistie
T: +251 (11) 553 4969
gmengistie@yahoo.com
Ethiopian Embassy, London
Mesfin Gebremariam
T: +44 (20) 7589 7212
mesfin@ethioembassy.org.uk
Ethiopian Embassy, Washington DC
Solomon Kebede
T: +1 (202) 364 6386
solomongelila@yahoo.com
Or you can also contact the EIPO's
Licensing Management Unit
licensing@ethiopiancoffeenetwork.com
A member of the Licensing Management Team will respond promptly to any request for information.