Iraq prime minister orders crackdown on trademark violations

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq’s prime minister has ordered a crackdown on local businesses operating under the names of international brands without legal permission, his office said Wednesday.

The move by the premier, Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, comes after The Associated Press reported last week that Iraq has become a major center of trademark violations and piracy.

In one prominent example, a chain of fake Starbucks has been operating under the international coffee company’s logo in Baghdad, the Iraqi capital. Starbucks filed a lawsuit in an attempt to shut down the trademark violation, but the case was halted after the owner allegedly threatened lawyers hired by the coffee house.

Amin Makhsusi, the owner of the fake branches, had admitted to the AP that he operated the stores without a license from Starbucks but denied making threats. He said he had first tried to obtain a license legally, but after being turned down, decided to open the store anyway.

The statement from al-Sudani's office said that trademark infringements are “a violation of the law, and a crime that harms the business environment and foreign investments” as well as harming "Iraq’s reputation and its ability to attract major companies and institutions with internationally registered brands and trademarks.”

It said that Iraqi authorities had taken “legal measures” against a number of businesses found to be operating under fake trademarks, but did not specify which ones.

Asked whether the government had ordered the “Starbucks” stores to be shut down, Yahia Rasool, a spokesperson for al-Sudani, declined to comment beyond the statement issued by his office.

At one of the unauthorized “Starbucks” branches in Baghdad, the signs bearing the logo had been removed from the storefront by Wednesday and the main entrance...