[image from abc. For those new to the Ethiopia coffee trademark issue, start here]

Last updated 6/21/07

It’s taking me a while to figure out the nitty gritties of Ethiopia’s effort to trademark some of its coffee names. My main obstacle: I’m not a legal expert. Another obstacle: The mainstream media sucks, and doesn’t actually do any careful analysis of these issues.

So: I’m just starting with a little historical background. According to the Guardian UK and other sources:

2004: Starbucks filed a trademark application for “Shirkina Sun Dried Sidamo” to the US Patent and Trademark Office.

Feb. 2005: Ethiopia filed an application for the word Sidamo, Harar and Yirgacheffe in 40 countries, cuz having the rights to those names means Ethiopia can control the use of those names in the market, getting a better price for that coffee. But the US Patent and Trademark Office said the Sidamo application had to be rejected because the word was already the subject of Starbucks’ application.

Mar. 18, 2005: H.E. Kassahun Ayele, who was the Ethiopian ambassador to the US at that time, wrote Starbucks asking them to withdraw its application to trademark Sidamo, with the offer that Ethiopia would grant Starbucks the license to use the term Sidamo at no charge. (PDF)

April 2005: H.E. Kassahun Ayele received a short, dismissive note from Starbucks lawyer. (PDF)

Dec. 2005: After repeated prompting from the Ethiopian ambassador and Oxfam, Starbucks sent 2 reps to the Ethiopian embassy. Starbucks lawyer Kim Teraberry denied Ethiopia’s right to trademark Sidamo. Starbucks agreed to look at a licensing agreement, which Starbucks rejected. (PDF)

June 2006: Starbucks’ application lapsed, and the US National Coffee Association, of which Starbucks is a leading member, objected to the Ethiopian application. It seems pretty clear that Starbucks was behind the NCA’s actions.

Aug. 2006: The US Trademark office grants Ethiopia a trademark for Yirgacheffe.

Oct. 31, 2006: Oxfam America’s Executive Director met with Starbucks CEO, and stated Oxfam’s desire to resolve this issue.

Nov. 6, 2006: 60,000 people sent faxes to Starbucks asking them to honor their commitments to coffee farmers in Ethiopia, according to Oxfam.

Nov. 28, 2006: Starbucks CEO Jim Donald met with H.E. Meles Zanawi, prime minister of Ethiopia (PDF). The talks broke down — Starbucks still opposes Ethiopia’s trademarking initiative, nevermind that Jim Donald, Starbucks’ CEO, doesn’t understand the difference between trademarking and certification.

December 16, 2006: Oxfam organizes a Starbucks Day of Action to bring more attention to the trademarking issue.

Jan. 2007: Coffee farmers all over Ethiopia meet up to support Ethiopia’s efforts to trademark Sidamo and Harrar (Yirgacheffe has already been trademarked).

Feb. 2007: Starbucks and the Ethiopian government put out a joint announcement, which states that Starbucks will not block Ethiopia’s initiative to trademark and license its coffees. However, Starbucks doesn’t say it will support the initiative. Fortune mag notes that “For Starbucks, the scenario is a potential public relations disaster, pitting the coffee company, which had record revenue of $7.8 billion last year, up 22 percent over 2005, against one of the world’s poorest countries.”

March 2007: Oxfam puts out another video showing the inaccuracy of Starbucks’ statements on why trademarking’s undesirable. Starbucks now admits its claims about trademarking were “not accurate.”

March 27, 2007: The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) again refuses to grant a trademark for Sidamo.

May 3, 2007: The Ethiopian government and Starbucks put out a joint release announcing that they “agreed in principle to sign a licensing, distribution and marketing agreement that recognizes the importance and integrity of Ethiopia’s specialty coffee names.” Why Starbucks suddenly changed its mind may have a little to do with shareholders voicing concern ’bout the issues. Democracy Now! covers the continuing debate over Ethiopian coffee trademarking.

June 20, 2007: The Ethiopian government and Starbucks announce that they’ve inked a deal “to Promote Ethiopia’s Coffee and Benefit the Country’s Coffee Farmers,” basically allowing Oxfam to declare victory on this fight.

Know of other things I should add into this timeline? Lemme know, and I’ll update it. Actual analysis to come a bit later –

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