The Coffee Bean War

THE COFFEE BEAN WAR

Starbucks VS Ethiopia - Essay Copyright & Media Law

In 2004 the charity organisation Oxfam started a co-operational agreement with Starbucks, the giant American coffee shop franchiser. This agreement saw to both provide support to coffee farmers in Ethiopia as well as part wider attempts to reduce poverty in the country.

The Ethiopian government tried to file copyright applications in 2006 to trademark its most famous coffee bean names . Securing the rights to these names would enable the poor African third World country to control their use in the market and allow farmers to receive a greater share of the retail price.

But later that year Oxfam found out that Starbucks has used its power to block an attempt by Ethiopia's farmers to copyright their most famous coffee bean types. This is denying them potential earnings of up to £47m a year, said the development support organisation. Starbucks enjoyed a 22% rise in annual global turnover to $7.8bn in the year 2010, which is 3 times the global domestic product of Ethiopia.

The USPTO has denied Ethiopia's applications, creating serious obstacles for its project. Oxfam feels that the Starbucks attitude is questionable, because the refusal of copyright on the coffee beans would have increased its annual export earnings from coffee by 25%. The refusal also denies Ethiopia potential earnings of up to £47m a year!

Intellectual property ownership makes up a huge proportion of the total value of world trade, but rich countries and businesses capture most of this. Ethiopia is the place of origin of coffee, and it is still one of the poorest countries in the world. It is only trying to assert its rights and capture more value from its product. It should be helped, not hindered by rich capitalist organisations.

Starbucks has made some progress towards helping poor farmers in recent years, but their behaviour on this occasion shows the superficiality of their commitment to the welfare of their suppliers. They should take responsibility and set an example by supporting Ethiopia's plan to help the millions of struggling Ethiopian farmers who depend on coffee beans sales for their survival.

In my opinion the farmers should be able to gain a greater and fairer portion of the value our coffee commands on the international market. They are the artists that created a unique product that billions of people all over the world consume and they should be protected from abuse. They are losing out while others in the chain are making huge amounts of money, which is hugely unfair!

Ethiopia is continuing to pursue its trademark applications in the United States until this day. It is also asking Starbucks and other companies to sign voluntary licensing agreements that immediately acknowledge the country's ownership of the coffee

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