Haida Bucks owners play a waiting game

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The legal hot water in which the Haida Bucks restaurant in Massett found itself two months ago appears to be simmering still.

Haida Bucks was told by the Starbucks coffee chain to change its name, because of alleged trademark infringement, but so far the tiny eatery has refused to comply.

One of the four co-owners of Haida Bucks is Darin Swanson.

He has found the unexpected and unsolicited attention heaped upon his establishment quite amusing. What Swanson can't understand is why Starbucks is chasing after such a little fish when, so far as Haida Bucks' owners are concerned, it is quite apparent that Haida Bucks has neither breached the larger coffeehouse's trademark nor is it capitalizing on Starbucks' name.

"They never did their homework," Swanson said about whether Starbucks knew how large, or in this case, small, their opponent was. "They probably saw our name on the Internet, called their lawyers and said 'Serve these guys.'"

In a letter received on March 4, Starbucks requested Swanson's restaurant to change its moniker within a two-week period without a threat of any financial lawsuit.

The deadline has long lapsed. In this tiny town, Haida Bucks has received worldwide support in what appears to be a David-versus-Goliath-style fight.

Swanson pulled out a file full of e-mail letters of encouragement, and he told Raven's Eye about the generosity of strangers who sent cheques to pay for Haida Bucks' legal bills.

A lawyer has donated many hours' free work to them. Even their Web site was donated by a West Virginia company. Swanson was staggered that www.haidabuckscafe.com had more than 160,000 hits in the first month.

"Because of our location, business is dictated by the size of our town," Swanson said. He maintains there is no way that Haida Bucks can leech off Starbucks' reputation.

"You see what it's like to get here," he said to emphasize how small an operation the Haida Bucks cafe is.

Starbucks has now modified its demand by "allowing" Haida Bucks to keep their name until the end of the year, and have said they are prepared to pay part of the cost to change it.

Swanson and his partners have countered by demanding the cease-and-desist action be retracted, they receive $2,000 for legal costs, and they get an apology. No response was received by press time.

Swanson talks candidly because he believes any further action could not possibly become financial. Even if Haida Bucks should lose, which Swanson says is unlikely, he's not afraid.

"They're not going to get water out of a rock," Swanson said.

The Haida Bucks cafe shuts down for the winter months because there isn't enough traffic even to pay the wages of its four staff.