A study case on coffee (Coffea arabica): Limu Coffe - IRD

Ownership of names is the same strategy corporations like Starbucks, McDonald’s and
Disney used to build their brands and capture a fair return for the use of their name.
Moreover, the difference between trademarks and GIs emerges from the
different legal traditions that are used. Thus, in some countries, the obligation under the
TRIPS Agreement is implemented through trademark law as in the United States (common
law tradition) whereas other countries have implemented these obligations through a sui
generis legislation for GIs as the European countries (Roman law). And, due to the Ethiopian
coffee most important consuming countries apply a trademark law, it might influence the
Ethiopian choice.
The Ethiopian government is currently working with a stakeholder group, which
includes coffee cooperatives, to decide how to manage ownership and the distribution of
benefits associated with trademarks.
This Trademark Licensing Project lead by the EIPO was also applied to Harar and
Yirgacheffe coffees, and was planned to be enlarged welcoming Limu and Lekempti coffees
in 2009. But this process slowed down, getting reported to 2010, because of financial issues
(lawyers, cabinets, etc.) and of difficulties currently met by Sidamo coffee which license is
yet not filled by Japan and Brazil (EIPO officer, 16 th September 2009).
Clearly, once Limu coffee will be registered as a trademark, its registration as a pure
geographical indication will be impossible; but combinations remain possible and, in this
<strong>case</strong>, trade marking already acts as an indication of geographical origin. In 2007, the EIPO
Director General expressed the need to use other IP tools to cater for protection of trademarks
and especially explored the use of GI as one of these tools.
7.3) Assessment of Limu coffee as a GI candidate
Among other arguments, the EIPO Director General exposed the following advantages
and disadvantages of GIs for protecting Ethiopian coffees trademarks during the same 2007
seminar in China:
133