Starbucks Corp. has lost the final round of its infringement dispute with Korean coffee retailer Elpreya Co. The Supreme Court of Korea today affirmed the dismissal of Starbucks’ petition to cancel Elpreya’s STARPREYA word and design marks on confusion grounds.
“The trademarks of Starbucks and Elpreya are different in appearance and name,” the court found. “We also cannot judge that the Starbucks trademark was well-known at home before Elpreya released its registered trademark to the market.”
Justice was swift. Starbucks appealed the adverse decision it received from the Patent Court of Korea only weeks ago.
Early news service reports on today’s decision are available here, here, and here.
In December, Seattle Trademark Lawyer discussed the case here and here.