Devil's advocacy - some choad in the Netherlands was never going to sue anybody in Ethiopia for making injera. He wanted to be able to sue other white people for being other white people making injera. You'd like your patent office to be knowledgeable to go "dude they've been making this in Ethiopia for four thousand years" but patent offices aren't omniscient.

So here's the question - you're a white guy. You discover the wonders of Injera. You want to sell it in the Netherlands - what can you do to protect yourself so that Aldi doesn't swoop in and sell a knockoff of your product after you've blown your life savings and four years getting the word out? Or do we argue that white people aren't allowed to make Ethiopian tortillas? 'cuz we've done that, too.

What if you're Ethiopian? Do you get to sue Aldi for stealing your cuisine after you've spent your life savings building a reputation?

I have no answers here. It's stupid to give patents to people who didn't invent shit. But the marketplace is so tilted towards the giants that it's a fuckin' miracle if Aldi and Starbuck's don't end up making the lion's share of the money all the time every time.

As far as Starbuck's, their cultural appropriation is sometimes hilarious.