A Japanese business group that had planned to exercise commercial rights to the terms cupuaçu, the common name of a cocoa-like Amazonian fruit, and cupulate, a chocolate-like sweet made from the fruit’s seed oil, has agreed to abandon that effort in Japan, Europe and the United States. The pledge, by Asahi Foods and U.S. sister company Cupuacu International Inc. (CII), marks a victory for activists who have mounted a global campaign against the issuance abroad of trademarks and patents for traditional Amazonian products and processes. Asahi Foods has been a conspicuous target of that campaign since last year, when it warned representatives of a small Amazonian sweets manufacturer called Doces Toricais to stop selling its candy in Germany under the name Cupuaçu. But... [Log in to read more]