Coffee chain Starbucks has been granted a default judgment against Georgia-based Mermaid Cafe in a trademark and copyright infringement lawsuit. Starbucks filed its complaint in November 2015 at the US District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, Valdosta Division. The owner of Mermaid Cafe never responded to the complaint.
Since 1971, Starbucks has used the trademarks ‘Starbucks’ and ‘Starbucks Coffee’ for a range of goods. The ‘Siren’ logo, which features a mermaid, has been used by Starbucks since 1992.
In the suit, the coffee chain claimed that in April 2015 it had discovered a Facebook page for the café which “prominently” displayed a similar logo to the Starbucks ‘Siren’ logo.
A number of cease-and-desist letters were sent to the café, but there was no response, according to Starbucks. On Tuesday, March 28, Senior Judge W Louis Sands granted default judgment. Starbucks was awarded statutory damages of $30,000.

Source: IPR in China