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Starbucks, Ethiopia reach coffee-licensing agreement

June 20, 2007

International Herald Tribune: Starbucks Corp. and the Ethiopian government said June 20 they will work together to promote three of the African nation's specialty coffees — Yirgacheffe, Harar and Sidamo — under a deal that supports the country's bid to win trademarks.

Ethiopia has won trademark rights for three of its specialty coffees in Canada, it has trademarked two specialty coffees in Japan and the European Union, and expects a third to be trademarked soon throughout Europe, Getachew said. Trademark application also are pending in China, Brazil, India and South Africa.