Presentation hold by Getachew Mengistie Alemu, Intellectual Property Consultant & Attorney from Ethiopia, at the Brussels Briefing ‘Geography of food: reconnecting with origin in the food system’, organized by CTA on 15th May 2013. More on: http://brusselsbriefings.net/

1. Brussels Briefing n. 31
Geography of food: reconnecting with origin in the
food system
15th May 2013
http://brusselsbriefings.net
Successes in GIs and other forms of
protection in Africa and lessons learned
Getachew Mengistie Alemu, Intellectual
Property Consultant & Attorney

2. ROLE OF TRADEMARKS, CERTIFICATION MARKS
& GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS IN MARKETING
AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS: EXPERIENCE OF
AFRICA
By
Getachew Mengistie, Intellectual Property Consultant and
Attorney
Presented at
The briefing meeting on geography of food: reconnecting with
origin in the food system
15 May 2013, Brussels, Belgium

3. INTRODUCTION
 Trade marks, Certification Marks and GI are elements
of intellectual property
 IP tools are commonly used by business in the
developed countries and the newly ICs to:
 protect IP Assets
 market products and service
 improve competitive position, and
 maximize gain
 Potential in using IP tools in Africa but little made
and cases of misuse and misappropriation
 Recent encouraging developments

4. ENCOURAGING DEVELOPMENTS
 Increasing awareness of IP Marketing tools
 Countries/ producers have embarked on or are
in the process of protecting and managing their
assets. Examples include:
 Moroccan Argan oil
 Ethiopian fine coffee
 Kenyan tea
 Uganda vanilla and Sesame
 Zanzibar clove

5. ENCOURAGING DEVELOPMENTS
 Ongoing initiatives include Uganda cotton,
Tanzania Arabica coffee and OAPI program
 Limited to two success stories in Africa
 Moroccan Argan Oil
 Ethiopian Fine Coffee

6. ARGAN OIL MORROCCO
 Argan oil produced from
the kerneles of the fruit of
Argan tree
 Product has reputation &
good will in the
international market
 Challenges include
misuse, consistency in
quality and lack of
incentive to maintain &
develop AT

7. ARGAN OIL MORROCCO
 Identification of
qualities, product
specification,
organization of
producers
 Registration of GI
 Improvement in
earning, quality of the
product and
maintenance of the tree

8. ETHIOPIAN FINE COFFEE TRADE MARKING &
LICENSING INITIATIVE
 Ethiopia produces
some of the finest
coffee in the world but
gained very little.
 Inadequate return and
fluctuation of price had
adverse impact
 Problem of
misappropriation

9. ETHIOPIAN FINE COFFEE
 Implemented an IP and
branding strategy
 Secured TM ownership
of coffee designations
& strengthened
partnership
 Change in marketing
position
 Improved income and
living standard etc.,

10. CHALLENGES IN USING IP TOOLS
 Lack of awareness of the significance of IP tools,
need for protection, management & promotion
 Lack of or inadequate knowledge of legal
regimes by producers and relevant stakeholders
 Inadequate capacity to identify distinctive
characteristics of products, understand supply &
value chains, develop and implement IP strategy
 Lack of organization of producers, weak or non
inclusive organizations

11. CHALLENGES IN USING RELEVANT IP TOOLS
 Difficulty in bringing together and unifying
diverse stake holders
 Lack of or inadequate resource in protecting,
managing and promoting intangible assets- Cost
involved in the protection, management and
promotion
 Lack of capacity to monitor infringement and
enforce IPR
 Expectations for immediate return and change

12. CONCLUSION
 IP tools help in capturing intangible values of
distinctive agricultural products or goods derived
from agricultural products and enhance the income of
farmers and countries
 Huge potential in Africa
 Need to:
 Create awareness
 Build capacity in identifying intangible assets, protecting,
managing, promoting t IP assets etc ,
 Ensure ownership of initiatives by key stakeholders
 Have initial support from government and development partners

13. Thank you very much
for your attention!!
getachewal@gmail.com