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"Dumb Starbucks"

A cheeky trademark stunt in Los Angeles, poking fun at Starbucks, was a hot topic of discussion on IP blogs and in the media last week.

According to Business Insider Indonesia, a coffee shop looking almost identical to Starbucks stores was set up, and customers were served free coffee (see here).  Operators of the "Dumb Starbucks" store proudly proclaimed that their business was legitimate, referring to the concept of 'fair use' recognised in US Trademark Law (in this case, because use is clearly as a parody and consumers would not be confused as to the original of goods/services, there is no infringement).

They wouldn’t have much luck in Indonesia, where the Trademark Law does not recognise fair use exceptions.