Starbucks Coffee vs. Starbung Coffee: A Win/Win Possibility on the Trademark Infringement Issue

Abstract

Violating intellectual property has been a major issue across developing
countries, including Thailand. In this connection, in 2013, a Thai coffee vendor named
“Starbung” was sued by the globally popular American coffee house chain, Starbucks.
The US frm claimed that Starbung coffee logo was very similar to its trademark.
They argued the appearances of the two trademarks could confuse the public and
customers and lead them to believe that Starbung coffee was part of its successful
business. Therefore, Starbucks demanded the local Thai street vendor stop using the
logo. To retrospectively determine whether Maslae should have rejected the request
and fought against the lawsuit or accepted the demands and thus stopped using
the logo, the analyst must explore the specifcs of the story behind this intellectual
property infringement issue. This case study provides an insightful story from both
the perspective of both parties, which would beneft those whose work concern the
areas of creative design, creative communication, and brand management.