A Brooklyn, New York café has settled a trademark infringement lawsuit with Starbucks over unicorn-themed drinks. The lawsuit filed this past May by Montauk Juice Factory, Inc., the parent company of The End Brooklyn claimed that it infringed on a unicorn-inspired drink.
Named the Unicorn Latte, the New York-based café filed for the trademark on January 20, 2017. It went to publication on August 17, 2017. The Unicorn Latte is part of the menu. Starbucks sold the Unicorn Frappuccino for several days in April amidst a buzz from its followers. The Seattle-based company denied infringing the trademark.
The lawsuit has been dropped and the attorneys for the New York café stated the case has been settled.
It appears that Starbucks may have settled the case to avoid a timely and expensive legal battle. Still, the instance shows the need to be vigilant in reviewing trademarks and ensuring there are no conflicts. While its not known whether Starbucks initially denied any issues, this is a case where the smaller company was able to use the point it filed its trademark first to show precedence over the bigger company.