Parody of Starbucks in Rome embarrasses Koreans

Starbaps Korean food restaurant in Rome / Screen capture from Starbaps' Instagram

By Park Jae-hyuk

A Korean food restaurant in Rome has been causing a stir as its store logo highly resembles that of Starbucks Coffee.

The restaurant, which has a sign in front it that reads “Starbaps” in a font similar to the one Starbucks uses, has a logo which is an obvious parody of the Starbucks logo. The Starbaps logo is illustrated with a symbol of bibimbap, instead of the famous twin-tailed mermaid.

Considering that Italy's first Starbucks store opened in Milan earlier this month, the U.S. coffeehouse chain may take action against Starbaps if it regards the restaurant as an obstacle to its expansion in the “home of espresso.”

“If our U.S. headquarters recognizes the existence of Starbaps, it may take legal action against the restaurant,” a Starbucks Coffee Korea spokesman said, adding that he did not know of the existence of Starbaps before The Korea Times asked about it.

Since its opening in July, Starbaps has attracted Korean tourists in Europe with various Korean foods.

According to the Korean restaurant's Instagram account, it also catered for the crew of JTBC's “Carefree Travelers,” who visited Rome last week to shoot the reality show.

However, many Koreans say they are ashamed of the Korean restaurant in another country.

“I think we are not ethical enough to criticize Chinese copycats,” an internet user wrote on a blog post introducing Starbaps.

Another user said the store tarnishes the image of Korea.

They warned of a possible lawsuit from Starbucks, citing strict attitudes of global brands toward parodies.

Starbucks and other international companies have filed lawsuits against parodies of them in Korea, when the copycats sought profits from the original brands or damaged their reputations.

In 2007, Starbucks filed a lawsuit against celebrity chef Baek Jong-won for trademark infringement, as he had run a coffee shop franchise named “Wonjobucks,” which had used a parody logo illustrated with Baek's caricature, in place of the twin-tailed mermaid.

After losing the lawsuit, Baek changed the name of his franchise to “Wonjo Coffee” in 2007. He rebranded the franchise as “Paik's Coffee” in 2008 and has maintained the name since then.

In 2016, a fried chicken restaurant here was also ordered to compensate Louis Vuitton 14.5 million won ($12,800), as the restaurant named “Louis Vuiton Dak” had used boxes decorated with a pattern similar to that on the French luxury brand's bags.

Although Louis Vuitton was unable to sue the restaurant for trademark infringement, as it does not have a trademark right in the restaurant business, the fashion house sued the parody store for an act of unfair competition, saying it tarnished Louis Vuitton's reputation.

The Prevention of Unfair Competition Act bans the use of trademarks similar to those recognized widely.

It also prohibits people from damaging distinctiveness and reputation of registered trademarks by selling, importing and exporting products using trademarks similar to those which have already achieved wide recognition.