Seattle’s Best Coffee Is Trying to Force Seattle Strong to Change Its Name | Eater Seattle

"Now owned by a Switzerland-based conglomerate that acquired the brand from Starbucks in 2022, the brand’s public materials emphasize local roots (founded in the 1970s as Stewart Brothers Coffee) but it has largely moved away from a local storefront presence: it appears to have closed all of its U.S. coffee shops and mainly sells its coffee in stores like Target and Walmart. The parent company was the party claiming trademark infringement against the smaller canned-coffee business and subsequently filed a petition for cancellation with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on April Fools’ Day. The founder of the smaller company frames the clash as an example of corporate scale and reach, noting that “They own over 2,000 brands,” and arguing that the petition effectively asserts control over the use of the city name in the coffee category. The parent company did not respond to a request for comment." - Harry Cheadle