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Home / / S KOREAN STARBUCKS SLIP

S KOREAN STARBUCKS SLIP


The IPKat learns from the Korean Times that Starbucks has lost a trade mark infringement suit in South Korea. On Friday, the South Korean Supreme court upheld a lower decision (noted by the IPKat here) that Elpreya’s round trade mark, consisting of the head of a classical lady, bounded by a green rim and the words ‘Starpreya Coffee’, would not cause confusion with the Starbucks trade mark because the trade marks are not considered similar. Moreover, Starbucks' trade mark was found not to be a famous mark. Both companies have been trading in South Korea since 1999.
As the IPKat said at the time of the earlier decision, he finds it hard to see how the two marks can be considered dissimilar.
S KOREAN STARBUCKS SLIP S KOREAN STARBUCKS SLIP Reviewed by Anonymous on Sunday, January 14, 2007 Rating: 5

2 comments:

  1. AnonymousSunday, 14 January 2007 at 23:46:00 GMT

    Perhaps a case of parochialism winning out?

    I, for one, had to do a double take to work out which was which.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousMonday, 15 January 2007 at 09:24:00 GMT

    Craig: perhaps you're just a moron in a hurry? :o)

    Though much the same thought did cross my mind. In football terms, the phrase "the referee's a homer" sprang to mind.

    ReplyDelete

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