The owner of a small barber shop will be able to keep the name of his business after the public rallied around him and a national chain abandoned a legal threat against him.
Tommy Gun’s Original Barbershop says it “sincerely apologizes” for a cease-and-desist letter sent to Thong Luong.
Luong owns Tommy’s Barber Shop in north-end Dartmouth.
READ: N.S. minister lends support to local barber locked in trademark dispute with national chain
In a statement posted on Twitter last night, the company wished Luong – quote – “every success in the future.”
The chain says it decided not to pursue the matter after getting all of the relevant information, but did not specify what that was.
Luong says he received the initial letter alleging trademark infringement earlier this month.
The story led to offers from three lawyers to take his case pro bono, and support from a Nova Scotia cabinet minister.
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Luong is a father of three who immigrated to Canada from Vietnam as a teenager in 1984.
After finishing high school, Luong says he worked 90 hours a week, washing dishes and fixing jewelry until he opened his own barbershop in 2003.
That was six years before Tommy Gun’s Original Barbershop registered its trademark.