Evil Starbucks

Just trying to help out. From the Consumerist:

DoubleShot Coffee Fights Back Against Starbucks

Yesterday, we reported on DoubleShot Coffee, a small Tulsa coffee shop that had been sued by Starbucks for infringing on their Doubleshot trademark. Well, the outspoken owner of DoubleShot Coffee, Brian Franklin, is fighting back via his company blog:

…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.’

Unless we find a way to raise the ire of the general public and industry professionals, Starbucks can not only claim common industry terms as their own, but they can also litigate small companies out of business. This is not a small matter, and the more noise we can make, the better chance Starbucks will back down (I hope). Dispensing Pressure…

Very well said, and exactly the reason why consumers need to get more upset about this sort of thing. So start getting pissed, people. And if you’re in the Oklahoma area, why not drop by DoubleShot Coffee and have a couple cups of joe? It’s on the corner of 18th and Boston. Tell Brian we sent our love and kisses and we’re rooting for him.

Brian Franklin On Starbucks Lawsuit [DoubleShot Coffee Blog]