Development charity Oxfam has alleged that Starbucks opposed a plan by Ethiopia, to command more control over its international coffee trade.

In 2005, the Ethiopian government applied to the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) – as well as Canada, Japan and the EU – to trademark three of its most expensive coffee names to increase its control over the country’s coffee trade and thereby the price paid to its coffee farmers.

According to Oxfam, Starbucks hindered the success of the US application by prompting the National Coffee Association of USA (NCA) – of which it is a leading member – to oppose the proposal one year after submission.

Nevertheless, Ethiopia is continuing to pursue its US application. It has also asked Starbucks to sign a voluntary licensing agreement to acknowledge the country’s ownership of the coffee names regardless of whether a trademark is issued. Starbucks has not yet agreed to this demand. Details: www.oxfam.org.uk

Photograph: Andy Aitchison/Oxfam: Campaigners, dressed as Starbucks employees, outside Starbucks’ Leicester Square branch. They are ripping up a giant cheque intended for Ethiopian farmers, to symbolise the Starbucks' opposition to Ethiopian plans to trademark its own coffee names