A Shanghai court has ordered Shanghai Xingbake Coffee Co. to pay $61,900 to Starbucks, whose Chinese name translates as "Xingbake." China Daily reports: "The court ruled that Shanghai Xingbake Coffee Co. Ltd. constituted illegitimate competition by using the Chinese translation of Starbucks in its company name and ... a similar design motif for its coffee houses." (BBC News and Reuters)
January 02, 2006
Pasted from "The Lawyer" magazine
Edwin Coe embarks on pro bono IP fight for Ethiopia against Starbucks
Greene is acting pro bono for the government of Ethiopia as it attempts to prevent Starbucks from registering Ethiopian coffee as a trademark.
The Lincoln's Inn firm has previously acted for the state bank of Ethiopia, but picked up this case from US charity Public Interest Intellectual Property Advisers (PIIPA). PIIPA's aim is to help developing countries protect IP through a network of lawyers.
The dispute is currently at an early stage and has not developed into full-blown litigation yet.
"It's quite important that the IP rights of developing nations are protected, and sometimes they have difficulty in managing both the technical aspects and costs involved in that process," said Greene.
A spokesperson for Starbucks said it is the company's policy to follow applicable trademark law, but declined to comment further.
Posted by: sorcha | January 05, 2006 at 08:17 AM