Starbucks Corp. v. Wolfe's Borough Coffee, Inc.

Plaintiffs-appellants, Starbucks Corporation and Starbucks U.S. Brands, LLC (together, “Starbucks”), appeal from a judgment entered on June 5, 2008, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (Swain, J.), following a bench trial, in favor of defendant-appellee, Wolfe’s Borough Coffee, Inc., d/b/a Black Bear Micro Roastery (“Black Bear”). The District Court found that Starbucks failed to demonstrate entitlement to relief on its (1) federal trademark infringement, dilution, and unfair competition claims brought pursuant to the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1114(1), 1125, 1127; (2) state trademark dilution claims brought pursuant to New York Gen. Bus. Law § 360-l; and (3) unfair competition claim under New York common law. We vacate, in part, the District Court’s decision and remand for further proceedings on the issue of whether Starbucks demonstrated a likelihood of dilution by “blurring” under federal trademark law. In all other respects, the judgment of the learned District Court is affirmed.

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