I'm thinking about opening a restuarant and my last name is Starbucks. Would it be legal for me to name my....

Question

Would it be legal to name my restaurant , "Starbuck's Family Restaurant?"

Please back up with LAW and only serious replies please. Lawyers please answer ! Thanks for your cooperation.

Could Starbucks coffee co. sue me if I use the name and win?

What does the LAW say at the Federal Level and NYS level?

Thanks again!

Answer 1

Serious reply...no I'm not an attorney....if it is your intent to invest a significant amount of money to open a restaurant that you are not sure can be named what you want to name it ....spend a few hundred dollars and get a real lawyer and ask him/her....that way you will know for sure rather than wondering if the info at YA is acurate or not.

Answer 2

Starbucks can and likely would sue you. It would be a trademark violation.

The advice below about "nobody can impose conditions" if your name is starbucks is wrong. In fact, you are not better off trying to name the restaurant starbucks just becasue that is your name. The issue is simply whether your restaurant will infringe on Starbuck's registered trademarks, and it probably will.

Kacky is also wrong. Starbucks will have a national registration for that name, which means even if you find a state that has no Starbucks restaurants, you cannot use the name. This is a TRADEMARK issue, not copyright.

Malter's advice is good. Whatever name you select, you should "clear it" with an IP (intellectual property) lawyer. You can do a preliminary search yourself to see if a name might be available at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office website: http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=tess&state=9m42ub.1.1

Sorry lahockey, Starbucks serves coffee and food and their trandemark is registered in the broader category of "restaurant, cafe and coffee house services." Any entity that enters that field with the name starbucks will be squashed like a bug, believe me.

Answer 3

Starbucks can and has sued successfully many times, and not always restaurants but also other retail places.

It is their obligation to defend every potential trademark infringement, no matter how small, as though it is the end of the world, because if they don't, they could tacitly be saying they don't want the trademark anymore.

Even google is dancing a fine line here - if "google" becomes widespread as a verb, they will lose the trademark and its protection.

State law doesn't apply - this is a Federal matter.
You can probably google [ :) ] "starbucks trademark infringement" and find the cases I am referring to.


Bottom line - if you do this, you will be tossing your money down the drain. Can I have it instead? :)

Answer 4

Is this hypothetical? Anyway, it goes state by state. Even if it's your real name, the rights go to the one who has met the right conditions. In many states, if there were no Starbucks in your state, you could use it.

In Maine, we had a case where Bob's Discount Furniture had been doing business for many years, but he had moved his store location a lot, as his business grew. So when Bob's Furniture came in from Connecticut, the new Bob sued the old Bob and the old Bob had to give up his name because he hadn't stayed at one address long enough to qualify.
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Answer 5

I think you can use that name...not just STARBUCKS but STARBUCKS FAMILY RESTAURANT...because even though it is similar it is distinctly different. Starbucks serves coffee and you would be serving primarily food.

Answer 6

you can call it starbucks if in fact your name is starbucks BUT YOU WILL NOT BE ALLOWED to copy the style if or colour scheme if you do you will be in big trouble.
if you have changed your name by deed poll then you cannot
starbucks as to be your exact family name or you will be sued.

nobody can impose conditions if your name is actually starbucks

Answer 7

If they shut down a restaurant called "C.A. Jones" what chance to you have?