Tulsa Topics

MODERN DAY DAVID vs. GOLIATH?

DoubleShot Coffee Company is the proud owner of a cease and desist letter on using the word "DoubleShot" from corporate giant Starbucks Coffee. Here's the lowdown from DoubleShot Coffee Co.'s bright new shiny blog-

Well, it seems that there are big organizations that think they can finagle the law enough to get a trademark on common industry terms, as associated with their company name. In our instance, Starbucks is claiming they have exclusive rights to the word 'doubleshot' because they were granted a trademark on the term 'Starbucks Doubleshot' for a canned drink sold in convenience stores. They claim that I am infringing on that trademark, and that I should destroy everything I own with the word 'doubleshot' on it, and abandon my website.

Obviously this is ridiculous. In the coffee industry, the word 'doubleshot' (two shots of espresso) is not fanciful. It is descriptive. To claim the word 'doubleshot' as exclusively Starbucks' is the same as claiming the word 'coffee' because they have a trademark for 'Starbucks Coffee Company.'

I go to DoubleShot Coffee Co. when I'm in the neighborhood and I've met Brian Franklin, the owner. I don't know him very well, but I'd bet that Brian would probably be offended if anyone confused DoubleShot Coffee Co. with Starbucks. Brian is known as a "Coffee Nazi" and aims for perfection in his product. If you want to see his passion for coffee in person, you need to visit DoubleShot Coffee on a Tuesday when he is roasting his coffee in the vintage Vittoria coffee bean roaster. The smells are amazing and it even permeates your clothing and you will smell like coffee all day.

This is a clear cut case of a corporate giant trying to intimidate the small guy. Obviously Starbucks has too many lawyers on staff with too much time on their hands. Listening to the last DoubleShot podcast, it's clear to me that Starbucks has become litigation happy since this isn't an isolated incident. You'll have to listen to the podcast to get caught up on the lawsuits that Starbucks has filed against other small businesses.

Brian is a very hard working small business owner and doesn't deserve having to deal with a frivolous threat like this. Starbucks's MO reminds me of some of the crap homeowners have to deal with here in Tulsa. Trying to stop the "powers that be" can get expensive when they don't get their way and start "lawyering up." To them its just a business expense that can be written off on their taxes, to the homeowners trying to protect their property its just an expense.

If Starbucks has nothing better to do than pick on local business owners trying to make a living, I guess my infrequent trips to Starbucks are going to become even more infrequent.... as in, NOT AT ALL. I prefer to take my business to locally owned and operated businesses that don't want to hassle people for no apparent reason other than to inflate their egos and keep their cracker jack lawyer team busy.

If you are like minded, pay Brian a visit at DoubleShot Coffee and let him know. I'm sure he will appreciate it almost as much as you will appreciate a great cup of joe.