desert guerrillas, originally uploaded by doubleshotcoffee.

So at first, the USPTO applied a disclaimer to the trademark application: "No claim is made to the exclusive right to use 'DOUBLESHOT' apart from the mark as shown."
But Starbucks' lawyers countered with a letter. Here are some excerpts:
"the Patent and Trademark Office has granted Registration No. 2,044,320, on the Primary Register, for Applicant's mark DOUBLE SHOT in connection with 'chocolate and candy' in Class 30." . . . "The registered mark DOUBLE SHOT is virtually the same as the term in question here, with an immaterial difference of a space between the words 'double' and 'shot'" . . . "the goods recited in the '320 Registration and this application are very similar, being for food and beverages respectively."
"Applicant coined the term 'DOUBLESHOT' by combining the words 'double' and 'shot' in order to convey an impression of greater strength or intensity of flavoring in the recited goods.". . . "The word 'double' is capable of conveying a variety of meanings."
(This is my favorite part.)
"The Examining Attorney may have assumed that 'double' refers to twice of something related to the recited goods, be it volume, a particular ingredient, a flavoring, or some other aspect or component of the goods. In fact, however, no such aspect or component is reflected on the face of the mark, other than the vague or suggestive use of the word 'shot.' For 'DOUBLESHOT' to be descriptive of some aspect or component of the recited goods, therefore, the recited goods would have to have twice the volume of a 'single shot' of some unidentified ingredient. However, no particular ingredient or flavoring is identified in the mark, and no standard or commonly accepted measurement is identified for a 'single shot' of that theoretical ingredient or flavoring. (In fact, the goods to be marketed under the proposed mark will be small in size, dispelling any notion that twice the volume of anything is being offered.)"
I didn't make that up.
The worst part is, the USPTO attorney accepted the argument.
More to come...