DoubleShot Coffee in standoff with Starbucks over name DoubleShot

Usually I am very pro-business. I believe business is the lifeblood of the American Economy. Our ability to open a business is the cornerstone of American success. That we can use our own money, sweat and hard work to get ahead is what makes capitalism work. Wal~Mart started as a small mom and pop; Kmart and Starbucks did too.

But when these companies grow and start to use their strength to crush competition and threaten the very institution of small business that drives this country then something has to be done.

Stores like Wal~Mart threaten small business through their ultra low prices and selection, but Starbucks is a great example of a true corporate bully. The way many people view Starbucks as a bully is through it's use of litigation or threat of litigation against its competition.

Some recent examples are quite shocking. You probably heard of some of them. Recently they shut down an independent company named after it's owner, Sam Buck, causing her to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees to Starbucks. She is also required to change the name of her small shop.

They also attempted to stop a brewer from selling a beer called Star Bock. For those of you who don't know, Bock is a type of strong lager.

Another recent suit involved a small roaster who had a very dark roast called Charbucks.

We also can't forget the artist who parodied the Starbucks siren or the small sandwich shop in a remote section of Canada.

And my favorite annoying stupid lawsuit, threatening legal action for linking to their website

Fortunately for Star Bock, HaidaBucks, and Charbucks, Starbucks did not win. But that did not stop them from incurring legal fees that nearly bankrupted them.

A small privately owned company with half a dozen employees does not have the money that a company like Starbucks has at its disposal for legal and court costs. Sometimes just the threat of a lawsuit can wield results.

The most recent target of the ire of Starbucks is a small independent coffee shop and roaster of ultra-premium coffees located in Tulsa, Oklahoma. DoubleShot Coffee Company recently received a letter asking them to change the name of their store. It turns out the name DoubleShot Coffee company is close to the name of a Starbucks product. Starbucks Doubleshot is an espresso and milk drink served in cans and sold at convenience stores and supermarkets. The similarities end there.

Starbucks Doubleshot is a mass produced coffee-drink sold in stores nationwide, and DoubleShot Coffee company is an independent roaster of beans selling whole bean coffee and operating a small coffee shop in the Tulsa, Oklahoma area. Starbucks contends that you will mistake the two. Judging from recent suits against Sam Buck's and Charbucks, I say they just don't want small independent coffee shops anywhere in the country.

Brian Franklin, owner of DoubleShot Coffee Company, explains the name of his store comes from the term "doubleshot" a common way to order espresso, something his coffee shop is especially known for in and around Tulsa.

"It's a common thing you'd find in any coffee shop," Franklin explains, "it would be like Starbucks suing over the name 'coffee' in our name. It's ridiculous.".

But regardless of whether it's reported or not, the ends that Starbucks goes to pick on and attempt to put these small coffee shops out of business speaks volumes for the attitude Starbucks has regarding their competition. Rather than compete on a relatively level playing field by innovating and offering better products, they silence competition by threatening to sue.

Starbucks worldview is that there should be a Starbucks in every town in America, which is all well and good. They have done great things and have raised awareness about coffee. Something that has lead to more informed consumers wanting quality products. But these advances come at the expense of small businesses like DoubleShot Coffee Company.

As John Stossel frequently says during his many personal appearances, "Lawsuits are so destructive that we treat them like missiles, force is government in litigation. We need some, but force wrecks lives.", That force of litigation also hurts competition. Because when litigation causes a store to close or someone who may have a fabulous idea on how to improve a product to rethink opening a store, we all lose.

The only one who wins is the corporate bully.

DoubleShot Coffee

Starbucks Doubleshot

Posted by psugrad98 at March 30, 2006 07:40 PM | TrackBack