EU court sides with Starbucks in logo battle
Judges ruled the labels were too similar.
According to Politico, a woman had applied to register a trademark in 2013 with a circular, black and white design featuring the words “coffee rocks.” Starbucks then filed a notice of opposition in 2014, arguing there were obvious visual similarities between the two marks.
The EU’s General Court ruled in an agreement with the coffee behemoth, determining that “there are three sets of visual similarities between the signs at issue,” including “the same general appearance” of “circular devices consisting of two parts.”
Moreover, the court said the similarities were “strengthened” through “the use of the same colours, black and white” as well as “the use of the same font for the word elements ‘starbucks coffee’ and ‘coffee rocks’.
You can see the court's judgment here.
