Big Barber Chain Bullies Owner Of Single Barbershop Over Using The Name 'Tommy'

from the a-little-over-the-top dept

It's not always true that in the lamest trademark disputes it's universally a big company trying to push around a much smaller company, but that does happen an awful, awful lot. For some reason, it seems that the moment a company or brand gets big enough, it suddenly transitions into a trademark bully looking to stamp out even the most benign competition.

That certainly seems to be the case with Tommy Gun's Original Barbershop chain firing off a C&D to the owner of Tommy's Barber Shop, claiming that the shaggy public will be super-confused as to exactly who is cutting their hair in Nova Scotia.

The owner of Tommy's Barber Shop in Dartmouth, N.S., says he has no intention of changing the name of his operation despite a cease-and-desist letter sent to him by a national chain with a similar handle. Thong Luong opened his barbershop on Albro Lake Road in 2003. On June 9, he will mark 15 years in the same spot — under the same name. He called his business Tommy's Barber Shop because he thought people would have a hard time pronouncing his Vietnamese name, Thong.

On May 9, Luong got a letter in the mail from lawyers representing Tommy Gun's Original Barbershop alleging trademark infringement and saying, "further use of the name Tommy's Barber Shop will cause confusion in the marketplace and depreciate the value."

There are a couple of things to note here. Tommy Gun's applied for its trademark in Canada in 2009. Luong opened his shop under its current name in 2003. At that time he also registered his business with the local government, something that Tommy Gun's is insisting he change as well. Tommy Gun's own LinkedIN page suggests that the chain was founded in 2009, meaning that Luong was using the name in commerce first. If anything, it seems that Luong should have been the one to have fired off a C&D rather than the other way around.

And yet, despite these facts, Luong knows he has an uphill fight ahead of him.

"I don't think I have money to fight with them but I'll try the best I can," Luong says. "I'm kind to people and probably most people like me," he says. "I just want to show people [I'm] just a small guy in the corner, and to get picked on by the big guy, Tommy Gun or whatever. I won't give up my name."

Except that Tommy Gun's has a far greater war-chest than Luong, one which they've now threatened to use against him even though he was using the disputed name years before Tommy Gun's even existed. Trademark bullying sucks.

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Filed Under: barbers, thong luong, tommy, trademark
Companies: tommy gun's original barbershop, tommy's barber shop