Starbucks, the cafe’ giant based in Seattle, obtained two trademark infringement judgements in Malta. This comes as a St Paul’s Bay cafe’ operating under the name ‘Strabuono Coffee’ was ordered to stop using that name as well as to destroy any merchandise or signs which bear the logo. The cafe’ was slapped with a €2,000 fine.
The two cases were filed in 2017, with Strabuono’s lawyer Matthew Bondin arguing that the emphasis in the logos was different as the Maltese cafe’ had a lion’s head and not a mermaid. It was also argued that the names of the cafes were in different languages and had completely different meanings. The leading product, Strapuccino, was also, arguably, not a spin on Starbuck’s trademark ‘Frappucino.’
It was instead a deconstruction of the Italian word cappuccino, melded with he name of the cafe’s own name. Chief Justice Mark Chetcuti, who handed down judgement in both cases, made reference to EU judgments on similar trademark infringement cases filed by Starbucks against other companies. He noted that the EU’s General Court had stated that a low degree of similarity between two trademarks was enough for it to find for the plaintiff.
The Maltese company’s logo had similar colour schemes and shared other characteristics with those trademarked by Starbucks. The court ruled that there was enough visual and conceptual similarity that it constituted a breach of European Union trademark protection legislation.
The court ordered the defendant company to stop from using the infringing marks and signs and to destroy any material its possession which contain the words Strabuono and Strabuono Coffee. The word Strapuccino was ruled to be ancillary and secondary.
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Photo Source: Restaurant Guru
