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.
HANDOVER POLICY: Approving the probe means that the new US administration of Donald Trump is likely to have the option to impose trade restrictions on China US President Joe Biden’s administration is set to initiate a trade investigation into Chinese semiconductors in the coming days as part of a push to reduce reliance on a technology that US officials believe poses national security risks. The probe could result in tariffs or other measures to restrict imports on older-model semiconductors and the products containing them, including medical devices, vehicles, smartphones and weaponry, people familiar with the matter said. The investigation examining so-called foundational chips could take months to conclude, meaning that any reaction to the findings would be left to the discretion of US president-elect Donald Trump’s incoming team. Biden
INVESTMENT: Jun Seki, chief strategy officer for Hon Hai’s EV arm, and his team are currently in talks in France with Renault, Nissan’s 36 percent shareholder Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), the iPhone maker known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) internationally, is in talks with Nissan Motor Co’s biggest shareholder Renault SA about its willingness to sell its shares in the Japanese automaker, the Central News Agency (CNA) said, citing people it did not identify. Nissan and fellow Japanese automaker, Honda Motor Co, are exploring a merger that would create a rival to Toyota Motor Corp in Japan and better position the combined company to face competitive challenges around the world, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. However, one potential spanner in the works is
HON HAI LURKS: The ‘Nikkei’ reported that Foxconn’s interest in Nissan accelerated the Honda-merger effort out of fears it might be taken over by the Taiwanese firm Nissan Motor Co has become the latest buyout target in Japan as it explores a merger with Honda Motor Co and faces an overture from Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) internationally. Shares in Nissan yesterday jumped 24 percent, the most on record, to hit the daily limit, after the two Japanese automakers acknowledged that talks are ongoing to better position themselves for competitive challenges during a time of upheaval in the global auto industry. Foxconn — a Taipei-based manufacturer of iPhones, which has been investing heavily in factories to build electric vehicles — has also
CHIP SUBSIDY: The US funding would help alleviate the financial pressure from building two fabs in the US and should lift gross margins in 2026, the company said GlobalWafers Co (環球晶圓), the world’s third-largest silicon wafer supplier, yesterday said it is to receive US$406 million in subsidies from the US Department of Commerce for two new US fabs under the CHIPS and Science Act, with the first batch of the funds likely coming next year. The grant represents 10 percent of the planned investments of US$4 billion in advanced semiconductor wafer manufacturing facilities in Texas and Missouri, GlobalWafers said. The commerce department is to disburse the funds based on the completion of project milestones over a multiyear timeframe, the company said. Along with the tax credit, which is equal to
RSS