This file is part of IDEAS, which uses RePEc data


[ Papers | Articles | Software | Books | Chapters | Authors | Institutions | JEL Classification | NEP reports | Search | New papers by email | Author registration | Rankings | Volunteers | FAQ | Blog | Help! ]

Protecting ‘Single-Origin Coffee’ within the Global Coffee Market: The Role of Geographical Indications and Trademarks

Author info | Abstract | Publisher info | Download info | Related research | Statistics
Author Info
Schussler, Lennart
Abstract

Over the past decade, coffee producers have been struggling with the world market’s low and unstable coffee prices. Some coffee producing countries try to overcome this crisis by moving from pure commodity exports to higher-price exports of niche market quality products, like “single-origin coffeeâ€Â, protected by intellectual property tools. Such protection can take the form of trademarks or geographical indications. At present within the single-origin coffee sector, a trend to use the latter form can be observed. For example, “Café de Colombia†was registered as a Protected Geographical Indication under Council Regulation (EC) No 510/2006. Another recent example is the Ethiopian Fine Coffee Trademarking and Licensing Initiative. In order to protect its coffee industry, the Ethiopian government has filed trademark applications for the country’s most valuable brands in over 30 countries, including all major coffee markets. This article suggests that both concepts offer mixed blessings. The particularities of the global coffee market might in some cases be better accommodated by a trademark scheme whilst in other cases by a geographical indication system. However, in order to ensure the individual farmer benefits from the higher price paid for single-origin coffee on the world coffee market, further steps have to be taken.

Download Info
To download:

If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the proper application to view it first. Information about this may be contained in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read the IDEAS help page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS site. Please be patient as the files may be large.

File URL: http://purl.umn.edu/48799
File Format: application/pdf
File Function:
Download Restriction: no

Publisher Info
Article provided by Estey Centre for Law and Economics in International Trade in its journal Estey Centre Journal of International Law and Trade Policy.

Volume (Year): 10 (2009)
Issue (Month): 1 ()
Pages:
Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML (with abstract), plain text (with abstract), BibTeX, RIS (EndNote, RefMan, ProCite), ReDIF
Handle: RePEc:ags:ecjilt:48799

Contact details of provider:
Postal: Suite 820, 410 22nd Street East, Saskatoon SK, S7K 5T6
Phone: (306) 244-4800
Fax: (306) 244-7839
Email:
Web page: http://www.esteycentre.com/
More information through EDIRC

For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its listing, contact: (AgEcon Search).

Related research
Keywords: Columbia; Ethiopia; geographical indications; single-origin coffee; trademarks; Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety; International Relations/Trade;

Statistics
Access and download statistics

Did you know? Over 1000 institutions contribute their bibliographic data directly to this service.

This page was last updated on 2009-12-26.

This information is provided to you by IDEAS at the Department of Economics, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Connecticut using RePEc data on a server sponsored by the Society for Economic Dynamics.