DARTMOUTH, N.S.—He stood up. And now he’s won.

A Halifax-area barber who accused a national chain of picking on the little guy by demanding that he change the name of his business no longer has to worry about a legal threat.

“I was so happy that they dropped it,” Thong Luong said when contacted by phone late Thursday night.

“They’re a big company so I didn’t want to fight with them. I didn’t know how far we could get.”

The Tommy Gun’s Original Barbershop chain announced Thursday that it was backing down against Luong, the owner of Tommy’s Barber Shop, saying now that he is “well within his legal rights” to continue using the name.

“The entire Tommy Gun’s team sincerely apologizes for the cease-and-desist letter that was presented to Mr. Luong,” said the statement issued at 9:30 p.m. ADT Thursday. “Now that we have all of the relevant information, we do not intend to pursue this matter any further. Mr. Luong is well within his legal rights to use his name for his barbershop.”

The letter by Michael Hansen, corporate counsel for TG Corporate Holdings Ltd., ended with: “I have reached out to Mr. Luong and look forward to speaking with him soon. We apologize for any undue stress this may have caused him and our local business owners in the Halifax/Dartmouth area.”

In an earlier interview with Luong on Thursday morning from inside his Dartmouth, N.S. barbershop, he said he was shocked by the ultimatum that was delivered to him in a letter from Tommy Gun’s on Tuesday. Tommy Gun’s told Luong that he had change his name by May 22, or it would sue.

“They’re a big company, if you see their shop you could not believe how nice they make everything, you know? Why they go here and pick on a little guy like me?” Luong said in that first interview.

The national chain Tommy Gun’s website states it has “70+ locations across Canada and around the world.”

In part, the letter from Tommy Gun’s to Luong read: “Please confirm, in writing, to the undersigned, no later than May 22 that you have discontinued use of the name Tommy’s Barber Shop. Should you fail to comply with this demand we reserve the right to avail ourselves of all remedies available at law.”

Statement from Tommy Gun's View document on Scribd

Tommy Gun’s filed for a Canadian trademark in 2009, six years after Luong registered his business. Luong said he chose the name Tommy’s because it’s easier for his clients to say and remember than his first name, Thong.

He immigrated to Canada from Vietnam in 1984. He said his family was wealthy back home and he was spoiled — he had never even held a broom, let alone used one. But when he arrived in Canada, he had to learn English and work 90-hour weeks as a cleaner and security guard to support himself.

Around 2001, he went to barber school and in 2003 opened his little shop on Albro Lake Road in Dartmouth. The same year, Luong registered his company with the Nova Scotia Registry of Joint Stock Companies and has renewed every year since, according to the registry’s database.

After 15 years as Tommy, Luong said he, his three children and his clients are endeared to the name. When the cease-and-desist letter arrived, Luong said his kids, who are 12, 14, and 17 years old, were worried.

Tommy Gun’s had justified its request by saying the shared name of Tommy would confuse clients and that Tommy Gun’s has “developed significant goodwill associated with the (name), not just in Halifax but across Canada.”

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After going public with his story on Wednesday to the CBC, Luong said he had received an outpouring of support the public, which included customers and even other barbershops in the Halifax region.

But even with this victory, Luong wonders if they might try again sometime down the road.

“They said they would let it go, but I don’t know.”

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