Starpreya, a small coffee vendor in South Korea is not infringing the Starbucks trademark, a Korean court decided. Starpreya is named after the European god Preya while Starbucks is named after a character in Moby Dick. {Note: I could not locate any reference to a god Preya. In India it means “what is pleasant to a man or the senses”}. Despite the superficial resemblance of the marks, the court determined that consumers would not be confused into thinking the South Korean vendor was Starbucks. Perhaps it was the fact that the Korean cup of Joe does not cost $5, a dead giveaway this is no Starbucks.
What businesses should learn about trademark law is that the general legal standard for infringement is a “substantially similar” mark “likely to cause confusion” to the public as to the “source” of the product or service. There are other grounds such as dilution but these usually require a very strong mark, like CocaCola or Kodak.
An original, unique name, preferably one that has no meaning (Kodak) is the best kind of trademark. Always conduct a search of the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) and hire an experienced attorney to file your application.
Source: Seattle PI via Bloomberg News
H/T: Igor
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Wow interesting post. I am always concerned baout that kind of trademark infringement as I do work for a company called RSS Pieces and our logo does resemble the Reeses logo. Too bad this case didn’t involve a US court- then I’d have case law to back us up! Anyway, great post and thanks for the research.
I have registered a number of trademarks & very little is predictable. It depends on the examining attorney assigned to your application.
RSS Pieces is probably ok because you’re not selling candy. But the problem is similarity in font & color. Your company may want to rethink that & try to apply for the trademark. You really dont want to invest alot of money in a mark unless you know you can keep it. You can do it online but best to use a lawyer who has experience.
thanks for your post. obviously different TM standards apply to different countries. i suspect if Starpreya were trading here in the UK, (i’m not sure about US, i’m based in London) they would have gotten done for “passing off”
Excellent point renthusiast. It is important to know that other legal theories, like palming off (US term for same theory), can be used as weapons to defend your mark. These are the various “tort” claims.