Cartoon stick figure pointing towards a chalkboard with “Frappuccino” written in large chalk letters — representing a blog post about Starbuck’s Frappuccino word mark trademark registration.

Trademark: Frappuccino

First Used: July 1991

First Registered: January 1993

Current Owner: STARBUCKS CORPORATION [1]

Trademark Type: traditional trademark; word mark

Primarily Associated With: coffee beverages for consumption on or off the premises [2]

Generic Phrase: frozen coffee, as in Frappuccino® Brand frozen coffee

Also A Trademark For: flavored milk and non-carbonated soft drinks [3], flavoring syrups and liquid and powdered mixes and ices and frozen confections [4], restaurant and café services [5], and ready-to-drink coffee [6], among others

Brief (and likely incomplete) History [7]:

Continuing our PSL® (brand coffee) and fall weather fueled posts on Starbucks’ trademarks, today we are highlighting Starbucks’ Frappuccino® trademark (post 4/5!).

Did you know, the iconic Frappuccino® frozen coffee actually wasn’t created by Starbucks? Frappuccino® frozen coffee was first released by Coffee Connection, a small chain operating in Massachusetts. George Howell, founder and owner of the Coffee Connection and a pioneer of the specialty coffee movement in the US, was inspired after seeing the cappuccino granita, an Italian frozen dessert, at an Italian Café. Together with his marketing manager Andrew Frank, the two perfected a new frozen coffee and branded it the Frappuccino, a combination of "frappe", the New England term for a thick milkshake with ice cream, and "cappuccino". First for sale in the Harvard Square store, the Frappuccino® frozen coffee was an immediate hit.

Starbucks purchased the Coffee Connection in 1994, and with it, the Frappuccino brand. Starbucks quickly applied the Frappuccino brand to its own recipe and started selling its new frozen, blended coffee through the US and Canada. The Frappuccino brand quickly changed the trajectory of Starbucks by bringing in new customers who were not normally coffee drinkers, and filling its stores in afternoons and during warm weather when coffee business was typically otherwise slow.

Interested in more PSL-fueled Starbucks posts? Check out our posts on PSL, DOUBLESHOT, Starbucks Cup Trade Dress, and Venti.

[1] Frappuccino® Blended Beverages, STARBUCKS, available at https://www.starbucks.com/menu/drinks/frappuccino-blended-beverages.

[2] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 1,745,953, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=74187456&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.

[3] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 2,148,066, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=74715271&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.

[4] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 2,151,175, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=75001847&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.

[5] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 3,080,371, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=78255117&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.

[6] USPTO, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 3,535,367, available at https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=78567766&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch.

[7] Frappuccino turns 20: The story behind Starbucks beloved beverage, STARBUCKS STORIES & NEWS, posted March 15, 2015, and available at https://stories.starbucks.com/stories/2015/frappuccino-turns-20/; Fact Sheet: History of the Frappuccino Blended Beverage, STARBUCKS STORIES & NEWS, posted September 17, 2013, and available at https://stories.starbucks.com/press/2013/fact-sheet-frappuccino-blended-beverages/; Starbucks didn't invent the Frappuccino. Here's who did., TODAY, posted July 11, 2018, and available at https://www.today.com/food/starbucks-didn-t-invent-frappuccino-here-s-who-did-t130891; The Frappuccino as Rite of Passage, EATER, posted July 5, 2019, and available at https://www.eater.com/2019/7/5/20680276/frappuccino-starbucks-history-who-invented.