According to a press release in german newspaper WUV the american coffee company Starbucks has won a copyright battle that has lasted for over two years.
A court in Shanghai decided the chinese coffee chain “Xingbake” has infringed Starbuck’s brand.
The judge stated Starbucks has all rights on its name in English and Chinese, plus the exclusive right to use the brand’s design. Copyright infringements are common in China. Xingbake – with over 38 stores in Shanghai – has clearly copied the logo and name, furthermore Xingbake sounds very similar to Starbucks, says China Daily. Xingbake now has to pay 500 000 Yuan (around $54000).
Wow! That name IS very close. Starbucks, in China, is usually pronounced as Xinbake (pr. Sheen-Bah-Kuh). This other place basically adds a “g” at the end to get something that would sound like (pr. Sheeng-Bah-Kuh) and that “g” sound is soft, not a strong G like in English.
I’ve joked(in China) for years that somebody is going to open a “BuckStars” and serve “coffee flavored” brown water. Looks like it happened.
Thanks for quoting my visual: http://www.fontblog.de/C1130786794/E316938656/index.html
Boseephus,
That name is not just very close, it’s exactly the same as Starbucks’ Chinese name. Take a look at Starbucks’ Chinese-language website and you’ll find 星巴克–xing ba ke–as the translation for Starbucks in all of the Chinese text.
My guess is that these guys either:
1. Didn’t realize that the Chinese names of Western companies were also trademarks, or
2. Figured nobody would bother as this sort of thing is rampant in China.