Ethiopia and British charity Oxfam on Thursday accused Starbucks of stopping the Horn of Africa country from trademarking its coffee, denying farmers potential income of about 50 million pounds ($94.22 million).
Oxfam said the US coffee shop giant, which had turnover of $7.8 billion in the year to October 1, prevented Ethiopia from securing trademark protection for two of its best-known beans, Sidamo and Harar.
If Ethiopia, one of the world's poorest countries, been successful, it would have allowed the country to control the use of the beans in the market, giving its farmers more of the retail price and securing an estimated extra 48 million pounds, the charity said.
"Securing the trademark for its Sidamo, Harar and Yirgacheffe coffee beans could have allowed the country to increase its negotiation leverage through control of the names and ultimately drive a greater share of the retail price in the global market," Ethiopia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Starbucks denied being behind the blocking bid by the US National Coffee Association (NCA) at the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).