Russian Trademark Pirates forced Starbucks to delay launch of coffeehouses in Russia for almost 10 yearsIn Russia, Starbucks was forced to delay its launch of coffeehouses because of a loophole in that country's trademark laws. Although Starbucks had registered with the Russian tradename authority in 1997, that registration was cancelled in 2002. The reason? Starbucks had not actively used its name to do business in Russia for more than 3 years.A Russian copycat immediately took the Starbucks name and then registered the Starbucks trademark in Russia for itself. It wasn't until July 2005 that the Chamber on Patent Disputes overturned the Russian company's trademark. Even then, the Russian copycat vowed to continue the fight for Starbucks trademark in their homeland. Starbucks' fumbled trademark registration in Russia shows that even large multinational corporations have to diligently study local rules that govern trademarks and regulations. In China, Starbucks won an exceptional ruling on strength of the fact that Starbucks is one of the world's best known brands and is well-recognized in China as well. Foreign companies doing business in China are wise to register their trademarks first. Otherwise they risk losing their brand names to copycats who beat them to the registration office. The lessons learned from all of Starbucks' victories show that trademark lawsuits can be both lengthy and prohibitively expensive, particularly for smaller companies that depend on international trade. Backed by much deeper financial and legal resources, a world-leading brand like Starbucks can defend its trademarks vigorously around the globe. Next article » Someone's stolen my brand! How Russian trademark warehousers hijacked Starbucks, Amway, Kodak, Subway of their trademarks
|