KARYO COMMUNICATIONS SUING STARBUCKS OVER JOE
By Adnews Staff
Karyo Communications of Vancouver, British Columbia is suing Starbucks Corporation in the Federal Court of Canada alleging copyright and trademark infringement. In a claim filed today, Karyo, a Vancouver public relations firm, alleges that Starbucks "misappropriated" Karyo's proposal for a publication called Joe to be distributed in Starbucks outlets. According to Karyo, the PR firm developed the concept in 1996, conducted research, produced a sample issue, named the publication and presented the idea to Starbucks' chairman and chief operating officer. In a response, Starbucks sent a letter stating the proposal would be kept available for review and consideration. Earlier this year, in conjunction with Time-Warner, Starbucks announced plans to publish a magazine called Joe to be sold in its outlets. Starbucks has registered Joe as a trademark in Canada. Karyo is now claiming that Starbucks has damaged Karyo and is seeking damages, an injunction preventing Starbucks from publishing and an order that Starbucks' trademark be canceled. In response to Karyo's claim Starbucks issued this statement: "There is absolutely no truth to Karyo's allegations and this lawsuit is entirely without merit. We know of no factual or legal basis that supports Karyo's claim." According to Starbucks, the specialty coffee company claims that it can document the development of Joe and that its development was independent of any ideas or materials submitted by Karyo. Starbucks has more than 2,000 outlets internationally with more than 200 in Canada.