'Starbung' Thai coffee vendor settles name dispute out of court

[webfact]

'Starbung' coffee vendor settles name dispute out of court

BANGKOK: -- A Thai coffee vendor has dropped his "Starbung Coffee" signboard after Starbucks brought him to court for intellectual property rights violations, the defendant said Thursday.

"We met halfway in an out-of-court settlement," said Damrong Maslee, a Bangkok street coffee vendor whose legal tussle with the US multinational has brought him social media fame in Thailand.

Last month, a Thai law firm filed a complaint on behalf of Starbucks Coffee Company against Damrong, 44, for not complying with an injunction issued in 2012 to remove the "Starbung Coffee" logo from his sidewalk stall in the Thai capital.

The international coffee giant demanded compensation of Bt300,000 (9,700 dollars), plus 30,000 baht (970 dollars) a month in legal fees.

"They agreed to drop the demand for compensation, and I agreed to stop using a circular sign for my coffee shop logo," Damrong told dpa.

He has also changed the name of his sidewalk coffee shop to "Bung’s Tears," showing a man in a Muslim cap crying.

"Bung" means brother in Malay.


-- The Nation 2013-11-21

[draftvader]

Starbucks show great restraint by walking away. So often fights in this country only end when somebody is dead.

[Spare]

Rich Farangs bully poor Thais?

I think so.

[tominbkk]

Starbucks only wanted him to stop using their IP so blatantly. They never wanted his money. But if he was going to continue stealing IP from them, they would ask for payment. He was being a baby about it. Anyway, he got lots of free publicity.

Maybe he can rename his coffee Bunghole's Coffee!

[webfact]

Drinking Bung's Tears: Coffee cart owner changes name (again)
By Coconuts Bangkok



Fighting a legal battle against a global corporate giant can make a man sad.

BANGKOK: -- Perhaps that’s why Damrong Maslae, the 43-year-old Bangkok coffee cart vendor at the center Starbung-gate controversy, recently re-named his business Bung’s Tears?

A photo of the new name and sign has gone up on Pantip and generated much discussion. While many laugh it off and admire his guts to fight a global brand like Starbucks, some netizens disagree with his pointless battle.

Many comments in Pantip suggested the stubborn barista is guilty of copyright infringement and seeking attention from the public, while some argue the whole story is a literally priceless and effective marketing strategy for his coffee cart. [read more...]

Full story: http://bangkok.coconuts.co/2013/11/21/drinking-bungs-tears-coffee-cart-owner-changes-name-again


-- Coconuts Bangkok 2013-11-21

[JoeThePoster]

Good thing his new logo isn't Bung's Crocodile Tears - would be sued by Lacoste.

[rkidlad]

I hate Starbucks as much as the next man, but they did what any other company would do. Your name and logo are very important.

This has nothing to do with bullying. They asked for him to stop and he wouldn't. They took the right course of action and now he changed the name. It's over and this guy got loads of publicity.

Win-win.

[draftvader]

B300,000 with 7.5% (assuming they mean interest) would place this at around B322,500. At B30 per cup of coffee he will need to sell 10,750 cups of coffee. Going to be a busy time for this man. I doubt it will make much difference as to how much attention this will gain him on social media he will be destroyed if he does not move as far away from Starbuck's IP as possible.

The long shot of this is a success for ANY business in Thailand. If you have worked to assemble a brand here it CAN be protected. Suddenly there is a belief that you CAN have a business in Thailand without it being stolen from under your nose (e.g. Pizza Hut). This change might well actually help Thailand's economy grow with outside businesses feeling they can work here without fear of people taking advantage of their IP.

The amount of times I am faced with businesses utilising other businesses' IP in this country is appalling and has put off a large number of international businesses working here. Anybody thinking this settlement is a poor result is VERY short-sighted indeed.

[DLock]

Good for Starbucks.

Make this lowlife impostor trying to cash in on their brand pay.

[stevenl]

<snip> Going to be a busy time for this man. I doubt it will make much difference as to how much attention this will gain him on social media he will be destroyed if he does not move as far away from Starbuck's IP as possible.<snip>

Did you read the OP?

[draftvader]

<snip> Going to be a busy time for this man. I doubt it will make much difference as to how much attention this will gain him on social media he will be destroyed if he does not move as far away from Starbuck's IP as possible.<snip>

Did you read the OP?

Further down there is a further press release through Coconuts that states

But the Starbucks lawsuits for violating Articles 109 and 110 of the Thai Trademark Act B.E.2534, which would require the coffee stall to pay damages of THB300,000 with 7.5 percent are still in play.

The case is set to go on court on Feb. 10, 2014.

It would seem that, from Starbucks point of view they are making sure this man stays away and doesn't suddenly revert to his old name/logo once this is out of court forcing them back into starting court proceedings again.

[marcusd]

Rich Farangs bully poor Thais?

I think so.

why then set up a company, build a reputation (whether you enjoy the brand or not is irrelevant as many obviously do)... Then allow others to do what they want after you spend years building it?.

Not bullying. Fair is fair

Sent from my RM-892_apac_laos_thailand_219 using Tapatalk

[mca]

I wish him every success under his new business name and the free publicity this story created for him. Then, when people are queuing up round the block buying his coffee in support of him trying to stick it to a megacorp or just post a picture on Facebook of them sampling " Bung's Tears" and somebody sees his success and thinks " I'll have some of that" and you see " Lung's Tears" or " Bung's Bears" logos up and down the soi I hope he'll be magnanimous enough to turn the other cheek. Or maybe not.

[stevenl]

<snip> Going to be a busy time for this man. I doubt it will make much difference as to how much attention this will gain him on social media he will be destroyed if he does not move as far away from Starbuck's IP as possible.<snip>

Did you read the OP?

Further down there is a further press release through Coconuts that states

But the Starbucks lawsuits for violating Articles 109 and 110 of the Thai Trademark Act B.E.2534, which would require the coffee stall to pay damages of THB300,000 with 7.5 percent are still in play.

The case is set to go on court on Feb. 10, 2014.

It would seem that, from Starbucks point of view they are making sure this man stays away and doesn't suddenly revert to his old name/logo once this is out of court forcing them back into starting court proceedings again.

That is the deterrent for him to make sure he does not change the name back.

He does not have to sell that amount of coffee to make up for any payment he owes to Starbucks.

[draftvader]

Did you read the OP?

Further down there is a further press release through Coconuts that states

But the Starbucks lawsuits for violating Articles 109 and 110 of the Thai Trademark Act B.E.2534, which would require the coffee stall to pay damages of THB300,000 with 7.5 percent are still in play.

The case is set to go on court on Feb. 10, 2014.

It would seem that, from Starbucks point of view they are making sure this man stays away and doesn't suddenly revert to his old name/logo once this is out of court forcing them back into starting court proceedings again.

That is the deterrent for him to make sure he does not change the name back.

He does not have to sell that amount of coffee to make up for any payment he owes to Starbucks.

He will do if the court rules in Starbuck's favour and they decide to pursue him for it (I accept that at this point it comes down to law enforcement....)

[Kilgore Trout]

Rich Farangs bully poor Thais?

I think so.

Ha, rip off a Thai company's IP like Red Bull or something and see what happens. I have no doubt they would show much less restraint and compassion than Starbucks did.

I hate multinational corporations as much as the next guy, but this bung was pushing it.

[lovetotravel]

Rich Farangs bully poor Thais?

I think so.

Actually, it's just a business trying to enforce the law. Can you imagine what would have happened if this was Thai company? Doubt the same course of action would have been taken.

[Loles]

GO! Starbung GO!

You made an unbelievable huge and free advertising for this idiot coffee team.

I hope they gave you something for it under the table as it's usually here.

Edited November 21, 2013 by Loles

[GAZZPA]

Rich Farangs bully poor Thais?

I think so.

Poor Thai's think they can rip off rich Farangs?

I think not.

[AlphMichaels]

His blatant disregard for a corporate brand has landed him in the spotlight and, in the end, relatively unscathed. My gut says any pain inflicted to date is going to be made up for as people flock to his stand for a cup and pic.

I think he won.

[pacovl46]

Here's the thing: Initially they just wanted him to stop using his sign and the starbung name and he was all like: "You're not gonna tell me in my own country what I can or can't do. Screw you, I'm not gonna back down. I invented this sign and you can't do shit about it!" Then he found out how much it would actually cost him to go all the way with this case, which he would've lost anyway, and all of a sudden it's so not a problem to swallow his pride and back down. It just shows once again, how small minded some people are. He should've just changed his sign and his name in the first place and then he wouldn't have lost any money over it. Som nam na!!!

[thhMan]

Amazingly, this is Thailand.

Try and steal what you can, then if you lose.. make a song and dance about it with "tears"

What a pathetic tool!

[belg]

nice free pub for their overpriced sugar laden drink

[newermonkey]

So is this a court president, that any coffee shop other than Starbucks cannot use a round logo ?

[shaurene]

Get real "Spare" no bullying, they are protecting what they paid for, you are the same as him want something for nothing.

[quiuvo]

At first I thought it was free pub for the Thai coffee but now I think Starbucks got a bang for its bucks!

[humqdpf]

 

Rich Farangs bully poor Thais?

I think so.

why then set up a company, build a reputation (whether you enjoy the brand or not is irrelevant as many obviously do)... Then allow others to do what they want after you spend years building it?.

Not bullying. Fair is fair

Sent from my RM-892_apac_laos_thailand_219 using Tapatalk

 

OMG! That cart with no espresso or latte machine, no comfortable seats etc had totally taken me in. I would have drunk a coffee there and thought, "how bad St*rb*cks has become" and decided never to go to a their outlets ever again. {Warning to those with a an absence of any sense of irony, the previous sentence was intended to be ironic]

He could have called it "Tarbucks" - same-same strategy as he tried with only one letter changed. Of course it would have helped his case if his name was Tarbuck, which it wasn't.

[techboy]

Starbucks show great restraint by walking away. So often fights in this country only end when somebody is dead.

Uncalled for trash.

[CapeCobra]

I am so glad the Stardung sign could be protected, so I can't enter it by mistake. For a decent cup of coffee in Pattaya, I prefer Benjamit. 3-star hood, 5-star coffee.

[draftvader]

Starbucks show great restraint by walking away. So often fights in this country only end when somebody is dead.

Uncalled for trash.

So often = not always. Hardly an unfair statement to state that the South East Asian fight mentality is to keep attacking when a person is down to make sure they don't get back up. I just transposed that attitude to business. It really isn't uncalled for, just a harsh analogy. At worst a little over the mark.