starbucks was in the news and all over social media last month when they introduced their new offering, the Unicorn Frappuccino. The coffee giant was proud of its new drink, while it generally received mixed reviews from customers. Since then, The End Brooklyn, a coffee shop located in Williamsburg, is suing Starbucks, claiming they stole the idea of their Unicorn Frappuccino from them.

The café has now launched a $10 million trademark infringement suit against Starbucks. According to the New York Post, what makes things even worse is that customers at The End Brooklyn are now assuming they are the ones serving a knockoff or copy-cat drink with their Unicorn Latte.

The End Brooklyn started serving the Unicorn Latte in December 2016

According to the court papers, The End Brooklyn, which is located on the corner of Union and Metropolitan, started selling their Unicorn Latte back in December 2016. It turned out to be a popular and successful product. The New York Times reported on The End’s product launch on December 16, 2016, dubbing it a “healing Unicorn Latte.” Due to the drink’s popularity, the owners of the café applied to trademark the name Unicorn Latte on January 20, 2017. Reportedly, the application is still pending.

Starbucks launched the Unicorn Frappuccino in April 2017

Starbucks launched their version of what is virtually the same drink on April 17, with the introduction of their Unicorn Frappuccino, leading to it becoming wildly popular.

As reported by Blasting News, a Starbucks barista was even encouraging people not to buy the drink, because it is so much work to make. This even led to a Reddit thread dubbed “Save a barista, order an Americano.”

What really gets to The End is the fact that the “size and scope” of Starbucks' Unicorn Frappuccino launch would, in effect, eclipse their Unicorn Latte, both harming the café’s interests, as well as confusing their customers.

According to the suit, their drink’s name started appearing on social media, referring to Starbucks, but with the hashtag #unicornlatte.

Same color and appearance, different ingredients

While the drinks look similar, they don’t really taste the same, but the suit mentions that there are definite visual similarities between them.

Both drinks are brightly colored, with pinks and blues prominently featured.

Neither Starbucks’ nor The End’s drinks actually contain any coffee, but The End stresses their drink is a healthier option. It reportedly contains cold-pressed ginger, along with lemon juice, cashews and dates, all blended together with healthy ingredients like blue-green algae, vanilla bean, and maca root. They go on to point out that Starbucks' version is merely a mixture of milk, color additives, and artificial sweeteners, with a touch of fruit juice concentrate to give some flavor.

Starbucks Unicorn Frappuccino was on a limited run

While the Starbucks Unicorn Frappuccino only had a limited run and can no longer be obtained from their outlets, The End says in their suit that the damage has already been done. Their suit claims that Starbucks, by introducing the copycat drink, has weakened the “distinctive quality” of their famous drink. They say Starbucks’ actions will likely continue to confuse their customers, making them believe that The End approves of, or endorses Starbucks’ products. The End is seeking unspecified compensation, as well as a public apology from the coffee giant.

The New York Daily News quotes a statement by Starbucks where the company’s spokesman said that they are aware of the claims by The End, but say they are without merit. According to them, their Unicorn Frappuccino was inspired by unicorn-themed food and drinks that recently trended on social media.
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