© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Traffic lights illuminate a Starbucks sign in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania U.S., May 29, 2018. REUTERS/Mark Makela2/2
By Jonathan Stempel
(Reuters) – Starbucks Corp (NASDAQ:) has applied with the U.S. trademark office for the right to use its name on a sports stadium or training facility.
In a June 2 application, the coffee chain sought approval to use its name in “providing stadium and training facilities for sports and entertainment activities” and “promoting business, sports and entertainment events of others.”
Approval could enable Seattle-based Starbucks to join companies such as AT&T (NYSE:), Bank of America (NYSE:), Canadian Tire, FedEx (NYSE:), Oracle (NYSE:), PPG Paints, Target (NYSE:), Toyota and United Airlines whose names already adorn professional stadiums and arenas.
Starbucks declined to comment.
Naming rights agreements often run for decades and can cost several or tens of millions of dollars annually.
Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:) took a different path from most corporate sponsors when it named an arena in downtown Seattle the Climate Pledge Arena. That building will house the Seattle Kraken expansion team in the National Hockey League, and the Seattle Storm of the Women’s National Basketball Association.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office plans by early September to assign a lawyer to review Starbucks’ application.
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