Recently a few Hawaii businesses have made news with trademark infringement issues. Our company, Hawaiian Happy Cakes, aka Kaholo Coffee, has become one of them (“Kaholo, Kahlua confusion?” Star-Advertiser, Jan. 22).

First let me state, I am not Hawaiian. Sixteen years ago I fell in love with Hawaii, moved here and have owned and operated Hawaiian Happy Cakes for 14 of those. Over this time, my passion for the islands and the culture has grown, enabling me to see and learn values that locals cherish and hold important. Above everything, family comes first. Another highly held value is a very strong and proud sense of what is right and what is wrong. And this is why I am writing today.

Our current huge legal struggle in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Courts originates from Hawaiian Happy Cakes choosing to differentiate and rebrand a line of 100 percent Kona coffee we have been selling for years. After much consideration, we chose “KAHOLO” because, among other meanings, it carries a connection to hula, which personifies warmth and Hawaiian culture.

To our complete shock, The Absolut Company Aktiebolag, a Swedish alcohol manufacturer, has legally challenged our trademark on the basis that it sounds similar to one of the brands it owns, “KAHLUA”. In addition to the brand Kahlua, it also owns “Malibu”, a coconut rum liqueur, and Absolut Vodka. A website check shows it is the eighth- largest alcohol distributor on the globe.

Abundantly clear to all our customers and friends is that this legal technical challenge is a stretch. They agree that “Kaholo” and “Kahlua” sound nothing alike; Star-Advertiser opinion editors have also weighed in (“It’s Kaholo, not Kahlua, obviously,” Star Advertiser, Off the News, Jan 23). But whether they sound similar legally will be decided later in the Trademark Appeals Courts. Our opinion is that the issue is bigger ethically — much bigger.

We are a Honolulu company producing a 100 percent Kona coffee product — grown, harvested, roasted and packaged in Hawaii, creating jobs along the way for locals. Where is it OK for an overseas company to come in here and challenge a local business from using the Hawaiian language for a local product? The very idea of it is wrong — ethically, morally and legally. Sadly, we saw something similar to this last year when a Chicago-based company issued a “cease and desist order’ against a local business that had been using the name “Aloha Poke” many years prior to the mainland business federally registering it. That order, too, we believe is wrong.

The Absolut Company Aktiebolag has retained a high-powered legal team and they argue that “the term KAHOLO is virtually identical to (their client’s) KAHLUA trademark, in that it begins with the letters ‘KAH’.”

Let us take a moment to consider this broad claim. Here on Oahu’s North Shore there might be any number of products containing “Kahuku,” or other “Kah” ventures. What if they were to make coffee or other items, then try to federally register them as a “Kahuku” product? Would this be opposed by The Absolut Company Aktiebolag on the basis that its brand begins with “Kah”?

Where does this corporate bullying stop? When do non-local and overseas businesses stop pushing us around with heavyweight lawyers, multipage legal letters and injunctions telling us here how we can name our products and businesses?

Hawaiian Happy Cakes, aka Kaholo Coffee, is asking for your local support in this massive uphill fight. This weekend, for instance, pass on the Kahlua and milk — and instead try a locally made Koloa Rum, Ocean Vodka or tasty Maui Brewing Co. ale.

Owen O’Callaghan is owner/operator of Hawaiian Happy Cakes, aka Kaholo Coffee.