China court rules for Starbucks in copyright case
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-01-02 19:50

BEIJING (Reuters) - A Shanghai court has ruled that a Chinese coffee company infringed the copyright of coffee chain Starbucks Corp., state media said on Monday.

The court ordered Shanghai Xingbake Coffee Co. Ltd. to pay compensation of 500,000 yuan ($61,900) to Starbucks, whose Chinese name translates as 'Xingbake', the China Daily reported.

Beijing has pledged to protect intellectual property rights, but with piracy of everything from handbags to software rampant, the issue has become a thorn in relations with the United States and other countries that accuse Chinese firms of copying Western products.

"The court ruled that Shanghai Xingbake Coffee Co. Ltd. constituted illegitimate competition by using the Chinese translation of Starbucks in its company name and ... a similar design motif for its coffee houses," the report said.

Shanghai Xingbake registered in 1999, after Starbucks had registered its trademark in China, but before it registered as a joint venture in Shanghai in 2000, the newspaper said.

Starbucks brought the case in 2003 claiming copyright infringement against the Shanghai company, whose logo shares the same white and green design as that of the Seattle-based chain.

Since entering China in 1998, Starbucks has opened some 140 stores with three local partners. More recently it has started opening outlets directly as the government loosens regulations on foreign ownership in the sector.