Get 40% Off
🤯 This Tech Portfolio is up 29% YTD! Join Now to Get April’s Top PicksGet The Picks – Just 99 USD

Starbucks Stadium? Coffee chain applies for naming rights

Published 11/06/2021, 19:43
Updated 11/06/2021, 20:35
© Reuters. A Starbucks logo is seen at a Starbucks coffee shop in Seoul, South Korea, March 7, 2016. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji/Files

© Reuters. A Starbucks logo is seen at a Starbucks coffee shop in Seoul, South Korea, March 7, 2016. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji/Files

By Jonathan Stempel

(Reuters) -Starbucks Corp has applied with the U.S. trademark office for the right to use its name on a sports stadium or training facility.

In a June 2 application, the coffee chain sought approval to use its name in "providing stadium and training facilities for sports and entertainment activities" and "promoting business, sports and entertainment events of others."

Approval could enable Seattle-based Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) to join companies such as AT&T (NYSE:T), Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), Canadian Tire, FedEx (NYSE:FDX), Oracle (NYSE:ORCL), PPG Paints, Target (NYSE:TGT), Toyota and United Airlines whose names already adorn professional stadiums and arenas.

"Either it is actively looking to make a deal to sponsor a venue, or it wants to protect its right to potentially use its name in that manner," said Ashley Dobbs, a law professor at the University of Richmond in Virginia who specializes in intellectual property.

Starbucks declined to comment.

Naming rights agreements often run for decades and can cost several or tens of millions of dollars annually.

Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) took a different path from most corporate sponsors when it named an arena in downtown Seattle the Climate Pledge Arena.

That building will house the Seattle Kraken expansion team in the National Hockey League, and the Seattle Storm of the Women's National Basketball Association.

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Traffic lights illuminate a Starbucks sign before the 5am opening of a Center City Starbucks, where two black men were arrested, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania U.S., May 29, 2018.  REUTERS/Mark Makela/File Photo

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office plans by early September to assign a lawyer to review Starbucks' application.

If the office has no objection, Starbucks will have six months to show it is using its mark in commerce. The company may apply for extensions.

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.