Juan Valdez drinks Costa Rican coffee

Juan Valdez drinks Costa Rican coffee (Spanish: Juan Valdez bebe café de Costa Rica) is a slogan, implying that Juan Valdez, a fictional character created by the Federación Nacional de Cafeteros de Colombia (Fedecafé), drinks coffee from Costa Rica. At one time, it was used on bumper stickers in Costa Rica.^[1] The slogan prompted a lawsuit for the first time in 2006, when Fedecafé sued Café Britt following a t-shirt dispute.

History

The origins of the slogan are unclear, Juan Valdez has appeared in advertisements for Colombian coffee since 1959. Jaime Daremblum, then-Costa Rican ambassador to the United States, used the phrase in a 1999 speech.^[2]

A license plate frame featuring the slogan

Apparently the message about Juan Valdez as a drinker of Costa Rican coffee was attributed to José Duval, a New York-based actor, who was the first Juan Valdez.^[2]

Legal disputes

In 2006, the Federación Nacional de Cafeteros de Colombia received an injunction preventing the Costa Rican company Café Britt from selling t-shirts with the slogan. Fedecafé then filed a $1 million lawsuit on July 7, 2006,^[3] after Café Britt refused to sign a contract, stating that it must respect the intellectual property of Fedecafé and refrain from using either the name or image of Juan Valdez. Café Britt filed a $200,000 counter-suit, after producing an affidavit from a Costa Rican man, Juan Valdez, certifying that he does drink Costa Rican coffee. Café Britt also argued that the phrase is so common as to be ineligible for legal protection.^[4][5]

Fedecafé maintains that Café Britt agreed in early 2006 to stop using its trademarks;^[2] Pablo Vargas, the manager of Café Britt, denies that such an agreement existed.^[6] The only and final agreement, according to Fedecafé's proposal of January 19, 2006, consisted in the total recall of the t-shirts. This is the agreement Britt accepted and executed on that same date. In exchange, Fedecafé committed to dismiss any further legal process.^[7]

The "other" Juan Valdez was discovered as early as 1999.^[8]

Café Britt presented a criminal case against Gabriel Silva, Fedecafé's manager, for presumably defamatory statements, as well as taking civil action against him for damages of $1,000,000. Mr. Silva was notified in Colombia through diplomatic channels. All charges have since been dropped. When asked to comment, Silva's lawyer, Kyle Hoskinson, stated, "I'm glad this is all over."^[9]