Krispy Kreme agrees to release Tommie's Donuts domain name

SALT LAKE CITY - Tommie's Donuts will be able to use its name on the Internet after all.

Krispy Kreme Doughnut Corp. officials in Winston-Salem, N.C., talked with their Nevada-Utah franchisees this week and they will release Tommie's domain name, corporate spokeswoman Margaret Urquhart said.

She characterized the incident in which the franchisees, Lincoln and Sarah Spoor of Las Vegas, registered the name as the action of an ''overzealous'' franchisee.

''What occurred is not the way Krispy Kreme does business,'' Urquhart said. ''We wish them (Tommie's Donuts) well.''

Tim Matthews, who owns Tommie's Donuts with his brother Burt, welcomed the news.

''We are pleased that we are the rightful owners of the domain name,'' Tim Matthews said. ''Yet it was ours to begin with.''

Matthews had not heard from Krispy Kreme corporate officials, or the Spoors, and said he will wait until the domain name actually is released before considering the episode closed.

A call to the Spoors was not immediately returned Thursday.

Sarah Spoor registered the Tommie's domain name, www.tomiesdonuts.com and www.tommiesdonuts.org, in September, shortly after she and her husband visited the Tommie's store in West Jordan. By registering the name, the Matthewses were prevented from using the name of their doughnut store online.

The Spoors had contended that the Matthewses copied their operation and that by registering the Tommie's name, they were protecting their own franchise.

In October, the Spoors opened a Krispy Kreme store in Orem. The Matthews brothers said the Spoors were trying to stifle competition by registering the Tommie's domain name after opening in Utah. They denied they were copying the Krispy Kreme operation.

The Matthewses opened Tommie's in July at their Chevron convenience store. Since then, they say they have sold almost 1 million doughnuts.