A study case on coffee (Coffea arabica): Limu Coffe - IRD
A study case on coffee (Coffea arabica): Limu Coffe - IRD
A study case on coffee (Coffea arabica): Limu Coffe - IRD
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Ownership of names is the same strategy corporati<strong>on</strong>s like Starbucks, McD<strong>on</strong>ald’s and<br />
Disney used to build their brands and capture a fair return for the use of their name.<br />
Moreover, the difference between trademarks and GIs emerges from the<br />
different legal traditi<strong>on</strong>s that are used. Thus, in some countries, the obligati<strong>on</strong> under the<br />
TRIPS Agreement is implemented through trademark law as in the United States (comm<strong>on</strong><br />
law traditi<strong>on</strong>) whereas other countries have implemented these obligati<strong>on</strong>s through a sui<br />
generis legislati<strong>on</strong> for GIs as the European countries (Roman law). And, due to the Ethiopian<br />
<strong>coffee</strong> most important c<strong>on</strong>suming countries apply a trademark law, it might influence the<br />
Ethiopian choice.<br />
The Ethiopian government is currently working with a stakeholder group, which<br />
includes <strong>coffee</strong> cooperatives, to decide how to manage ownership and the distributi<strong>on</strong> of<br />
benefits associated with trademarks.<br />
This Trademark Licensing Project lead by the EIPO was also applied to Harar and<br />
Yirgacheffe <strong>coffee</strong>s, and was planned to be enlarged welcoming <strong>Limu</strong> and Lekempti <strong>coffee</strong>s<br />
in 2009. But this process slowed down, getting reported to 2010, because of financial issues<br />
(lawyers, cabinets, etc.) and of difficulties currently met by Sidamo <strong>coffee</strong> which license is<br />
yet not filled by Japan and Brazil (EIPO officer, 16 th September 2009).<br />
Clearly, <strong>on</strong>ce <strong>Limu</strong> <strong>coffee</strong> will be registered as a trademark, its registrati<strong>on</strong> as a pure<br />
geographical indicati<strong>on</strong> will be impossible; but combinati<strong>on</strong>s remain possible and, in this<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>case</str<strong>on</strong>g>, trade marking already acts as an indicati<strong>on</strong> of geographical origin. In 2007, the EIPO<br />
Director General expressed the need to use other IP tools to cater for protecti<strong>on</strong> of trademarks<br />
and especially explored the use of GI as <strong>on</strong>e of these tools.<br />
7.3) Assessment of <strong>Limu</strong> <strong>coffee</strong> as a GI candidate<br />
Am<strong>on</strong>g other arguments, the EIPO Director General exposed the following advantages<br />
and disadvantages of GIs for protecting Ethiopian <strong>coffee</strong>s trademarks during the same 2007<br />
seminar in China:<br />
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