Staff Techdrunk 
According to the Wall Street Journal, Starbucks, a Seattle, US based company has trademarked the “Starbucks” brand in at least 10 Indian languages, including Tamil, Telugu, Punjabi, Bangla, Gujarati and even Urdu. This move comes in the wake of its decision to open outlets in numerous cities across India.
In November last year, the Foreign Investment Promotion Board, which approves investments into the country from abroad, raised objections to the majority foreign holding structure of the proposed venture. This made Starbucks withdraw its application from the board. As per law in India, overseas brands cannot hold more than 51% of any single-brand outlet. Starbucks’ overseas holding was comparatively higher than that.
However, with an ever evolving society and a rapidly booming economy in India, things have changed and drinking coffee in outlets similar to Starbucks is becoming fashionable in Indian metros cities and big towns. There are already big names established in India such Barista, Cafe Coffee Day and Costa Coffee.
Starbucks trouble doesn’t end with the Foreign Investment Promotion Board. It is also pursuing a legal battle with India’s first and most celebrated producer of herbal beauty lotions and creams, Shahnaz Husain, who has registered ‘Starstruck’ as a trademark. If and when Starbucks gets the go ahead to launch its services in India, it would then we available in 27,000 locations worldwide. As of now Starbucks is visible in 13,000 locations.
According to some market watchers, Starbucks realize the importance of the lucrative Indian market and that the firm is expected to revisit its India plans in coming years.
