Editing Teff (section)

==Patent and bio-piracy==
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In 2003, a Dutch company, Health and Performance Food International (HPFI), paired with the Ethiopian Institute of Biodiversity Conservation to introduce teff to European markets.<ref name="How Ethiopia Got Its Grain Back">{{cite news |last1=Schemm |first1=Paul |title=How Ethiopia Got Its Grain Back |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2019/02/07/how-ethiopia-got-its-grain-back/ |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=12 April 2020}}</ref> The original agreement was for Ethiopia to provide HPFI with a dozen strains of teff to market globally, and the two entities would split the proceeds.

HPFI's CEO, Jans Roosjen, had taken out two patents on teff in 2003 and 2007, claiming that his way of milling and storing the flour was unique. HPFI went bankrupt in 2009, allowing Roosjen to continue to utilize those patents and the marketing rights for the grain while being freed from the original agreement with Ethiopia.<ref name="How Ethiopia Got Its Grain Back"/> Ethiopia only received 4,000 euros over five years of collaboration.<ref name="Wolters Kluwer">{{cite web |title=Teff patents declared invalid, 'great news' for Ethiopia |url=http://patentblog.kluweriplaw.com/2019/02/12/teff-patents-declared-invalid-great-news-for-ethiopia/ |website=Kluwer Patent Blogger |date=11 February 2019 |publisher=Wolters Kluwer |access-date=12 April 2020}}</ref>

Roosjen ended up suing a Dutch bakery company, Bakers, for patent infringement because they were selling teff baked goods. The Dutch patent office declared that the patent was void, citing that the methods used to bake and mix flours were "general professional knowledge".<ref name="Wolters Kluwer"/> The deadline for Roosjen to appeal the decision expired in 2019, officially allowing Ethiopia access to Dutch teff markets.

However, Roosjen's company Ancientgrains BV still maintains patent rights in Belgium, Germany, Britain, Austria and Italy.

Teff is inherent to Ethiopia's national culture and identity,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Zelalem |first1=Zecharias |title=Ethiopia: Teffgate - a Dutchman's Conning of the Ethiopian State |url=https://allafrica.com/stories/201911280886.html |website=allAfrica |date=28 November 2019 |access-date=12 April 2020}}</ref> and the government of Ethiopia has expressed intent to hold Roosjen accountable to the fullest extent of international patent law, as well as to regain ownership over international markets of its most important food.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Tilahun |first1=Dagim |title=The Patenting of Ethiopia's Teff by a European Company, and the Country's Recourse |url=https://medium.com/@dagim.tilahun/the-patenting-of-ethiopias-teff-by-a-european-company-and-the-country-s-recourse-c86aff8d4d6c |website=Medium |date=6 February 2019 |access-date=12 April 2020}}</ref>