President Starbucks Coffee Corp (
"The US headquarters directly commissioned its local attorney to file a complaint over E-Coffee's trademark registration, as the similarity in logos misleads consumers," President Starbucks' public relations officer Bonnie Chao (趙仁安) said yesterday.
PHOTO: SEAN CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES
The case is currently under investigation, Chao said.
PHOTO: SEAN CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES
She said that President Starbucks only found out about its US counterpart's intention to file a complaint on Thursday.
Chao said that she could not comment further, as President Starbucks does not have any involvement in the complaint.
President Starbucks, a 50-50 joint venture, has over 142 outlets across the nation, according to the coffee operator.
The US coffee giant lodged a complaint in October last year to the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) under the Ministry of Economic Affairs over E-Coffee's trademark registration, saying that the similarity would confuse consumers.
E-Coffee has not yet responded to the complaint, the IPO's section chief Chang Hui-ming (
Since the investigation is still at an early stage, the IPO may require more than a year to reach a decision, Chang said.
Starbucks in the US is reportedly also considering complaints against E-Coffee outlets in a number of other countries, including Hong Kong, China, Singapore, and Japan, where E-Coffee's trademark is registered.
E-Coffee, which has more than 280 franchised outlets, denied that its logo is misleading or infringes upon Starbucks' trademark, according to a report in the Chinese-language media citing the company's president Sam Yen (顏文山).
"We are not the only coffee store in Taiwan using a logo featuring dual circles," Yen is reported to have said.
A number of coffee chain stores, including Barista Coffee (西雅圖咖啡) and IS Coffee (伊是咖啡), use circle motifs in their logos.
E-Coffee's logo features a cup of steaming coffee, which is not at all similar to Starbucks' mermaid with curly hair, Yen said.
Yen said that E-Coffee will not settle the dispute unofficially, and does not rule out the possibility of filing a lawsuit if the IPO delivers an unfavorable ruling.
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