American coffee chain Starbucks has launched a trade mark infringement case against a mobile marijuana company based in the UK called ‘Starbuds Flowers’. Starbucks has owned their iconic green and white trademark since the 1970s, and has used it for coffee shops and cafes, packaging, food and drink, and promotional purposes.
The lawsuit was filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York against Starbuds’ operator Brandpat, and states that Starbuds’ logo is ‘confusingly similar and nearly identical’ to that of Starbucks. The filing also claims copyright infringement under New York and federal law.
Starbucks’ circular logo is surrounded by a thick green outline with the words ‘Starbucks Coffee’ in capitals around the green outline, with white stars on either side. The middle features a black background with a coloured white character with long hair and a crown with a star on it.
Starbuds’ logo features a green outlined circle logo with the words ‘Starbuds Flowers’ in white capital letters around the outside. The words are split by two white marijuana plant symbols as well. The middle of the logo contains a black background with a coloured white character with long hair and a similar crown to Starbucks. This character is smoking from, what appears to be a marijuana cigarette, with white smoke moving up from the mouth of the character to the outer parts of the black background. The logo also includes white marijuana plants surrounding the background also. Starbuds uses the logo for a re-purposed food truck, on its website, and on its cannabis products.
Starbucks, in the lawsuit, claims that the double-ringed green circle, capital letters and phonetically similar name, attempts to mimic the coffee brand. The coffee chain alleges that Starbuds is trading using the similar logo with the knowledge of its extensive chances of recognition among Starbucks customers.
This lawsuit comes over a year after Starbucks were made aware of the potential infringement, after learning of the similar logo in March 2023, and sending a cease-and-desist letter in August 2023 to Starbuds to terminate the use of their logo. Starbucks faced no chance but to file this suit after receiving no response from the company.
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