Uruguay: Ache Guayaki Tribal Name
What is yerba mate? Ask an Argentinian – they drink yerba mate seven times more than coffee.
It's a traditional, tea-like beverage consumed mainly in Uruguay, Paraguay, southern Brazil and Argentina. Yerba mate is not only the national drink of most of these countries, it's also a cultural drink for which preparation and consumption rituals are unmistakably intertwined with hospitality and friendship.
The drink's origins can be traced back to the region's pre-Columbian peoples. The Ache Guayaki tribe of Uruguay is one of the indigenous populations that have been growing yerba mate for centuries.
A U.S. fair trade company eager to bring yerba mate to the U.S. named themselves after the Ache Guayaki tribe. The company, Guayaki Sustainable Rainforest Products (GSRP), started marketing yerba mate as a social drink with significant nutritional benefits. For name recognition of their product, GSRP used the Ache Guayaki tribal name as their brand name, without permission from the tribe.
Light Years IP assisted GSRP and the Ache Guayaki community in forming a business relationship based on fair terms. Light Years IP proposed that GSRP pay the Ache community a license fee for the business use of their tribal name. A licensing agreement proved to be the most workable solution for both parties.
The license enables the Guayaki tribe to control ownership of its name as well as to capture economic benefits from its commercial use in export markets. The license provides GSRP with a mechanism for sharing export benefits – the licensing fee is tied to the GSRP's gross U.S. and international sales.
This example shows that the benefits of IP management and know-how do not have to derive from producing a product directly. The Ache Guayaki tribe neither produces nor exports GSRP's products. Today, the Ache Guayaki community receives long-term licensing income from the commercial use of their tribal name.
