The most titanic fight against big business to come to Seabrook since that pesky nuclear power plant showed up is happening right now on Route 1. There, nestled next to a Cumberland Farms convenience store, the Honey Bee Donut Shop, a tiny diner, is currently locked in battle with Honey Dew Donuts, a Massachusetts doughnut chain.

The fracas over fried dough is due to the similarity between the names of the two stores. Phil Englehardt, owner of the Honey Bee, says Honey Dew is encroaching on his territory by opening a shop a mere half-mile from the Bee.

"These companies just take little bites out of pieces of their communities" without giving anything back, Englehardt says. His shop is a throwback to the small diners and coffee shops of the 1950s and full of people he calls "real working-class heroes." License plates from around the country, often donated by passing travelers, decorate the walls. The shop is entrenched in the community, Englehardt says, from the numerous charities to which he donates to the scores of waitresses who have put themselves through school by serving customers at the shop.

The Honey Bee also has a stable of quirky regulars, including Ralph Brown, a grizzled-looking Elvis impersonator who Englehardt says is a "big hit with the ladies." In December, the shop sponsored a duel between Brown and another Elvis impersonator, whom Brown says sold him a shoddy belt. The dueling Elvii squared off in what was dubbed the "Thrilla for Priscilla," and Brown emerged victorious. Proceeds from the event went to charity and the belt is still on display at the Honey Bee. The shop is also the setting for Englehardt's "Motorcycle Man" series of novels.

"This kind of stuff would never happen in one of those big places," Englehardt said.

The saga started in 1994 when Englehardt says Honey Dew Donuts president Richard Bowen offered the Seabrook Shop $1,500 to sign a "consent to use of name" form that would allow Honey Dew to open a store in Seabrook. Englehardt and his partner, Carl Merrill, refused the offer and filed a complaint with Secretary of State William Gardner for trade name infringement. The Honey Bee also asked to be kept informed if Honey Dew tried to open any stores in the immediate area. Englehardt says the officials at the Secretary of State's office agreed to keep Honey Dew out of Honey Bee's direct area-Exeter, Hampton and Seabrook-but later amended the provision so that Honey Dew could open anywhere in the state outside of Rockingham County. The agreement was verbal, and their was no paperwork for it, Englehardt said. Englehardt was OK with it at the time, but, "as time went by, we began to see things aren't quite as fair as they used to be."

Things were quiet until mid-April this year, when Englehardt learned of Honey Dew's plans to build a shop at 743 Lafayette Road, right down the road from his location at 520 Lafayette Road. Since then, he's been contacting the Secretary of State's office to get answers about why Honey Dew is allowed to open a shop on his home turf. So far, he's heard nothing but "dead silence" from the state.

"I used to be a columnist (with the Carriage Town News), so the more I hear nothing, I know something is going on," he says.

Deputy Secretary of State David Scanlan says when Honey Dew attempted to register the trade name in the mid-1990s, the name was questioned by the office's corporations division but was ultimately approved by then-Deputy Secretary of State Robert Ambrose. Scanlan is unaware of any agreement that may have been made to keep Honey Dew out of Rockingham County, but says "the current practice in this office is not to get involved in any type of agreement like that."

Once a trade name is issued, the state can't take it back, Scanlan says.

"We have no enforcement arm," he says. "We register trade names and accept them, but once they're given out, they're given out, and we have no authority to take them back."

If a company tries to register a trade name similar to an existing name, Scanlan says the state will suggest the two companies work out a consensual agreement. Those agreements might have side provisions dictating the use of the name, but the state does not recognize any agreements like that, according to Scanlan.

Honey Dew's Richard Bowen was unavailable for comment, but the company did respond with this statement by e-mail: "Honey Dew Donuts registered its name in the state of New Hampshire and continues to abide by the laws set forth by the state of New Hampshire. As the lessee of the Seabrook location, we have been working closely with the building's landlord to ensure all local and state guidelines have been satisfactorily met." Honey Dew has more than 150 stores throughout New England.

State Senator Maggie Hassan, whose district is home to Honey Bee, has been working with Englehardt to make sure Honey Bee is getting as much support as it can from the state.

"I don't think it's fair that a large corporation, which knows that its name will confuse people, chooses to come this close to a community resource," she says. "On the other hand, we have a private market system in this state and the country that says we don't want to overly restrict business."

The fact that Honey Dew approached Honey Bee about use of the name more than a decade ago shows "Honey Dew had some level of concern that (Englehardt) had some legal rights here," according to Hassan.

A legal fight is the last thing Englehardt wants, though.

"It's not my gig," he says. Ideally, he'd like to "sit down with Richard Bowen...and very simply settle this in a way that makes him look good."

In the meantime, Engelhardt says he's looking for a lawyer who will "help fight this without making me go bankrupt."

"We've documented the whole thing from square one. We're starting to build a good case, and that's what makes everyone quiet," he said.

Englehardt is no stranger to direct competition. A Dunkin' Donuts opened across the street from his store seven years ago. The sticking point for Englehardt is the similarity between the two Honeys. Englehardt says he's had a number of customers come in with Honey Dew Donuts coupons and has copies of newspaper articles from the 1990s that misidentify Honey Dew as "Honeybee Donut Shop."

He's already started to apply pressure with a local media blitz. He calls the conflict with Honey Dew "The Great Cruller War" and has already had the Boston Globe, Portsmouth Herald, WMUR and WCVB in his shop to cover the story.

"My gig is to stir up a little trouble," he says. "I'll stick my mug out there...(Bowen) will stay in his corporate office."

He has other plans to step up the fight, although he says they're top secret.

"Phase two and phase three are in the offing," he says. "Even my wife doesn't know."

The Den awaits verdict

In their fight against big business, Phil Englehardt and Honey Bee Donuts have a kindred spirit in The Den coffee shop in Portsmouth.

Jim Clark, co-owner of the Black Bear Micro Rostery and The Den, has been fighting coffee behemoth Starbucks since 1997 when the Seattle-based chain requested Clark change the name of his "Mister Charbucks" dark roast coffee.

The case finally made it to trial in mid-March of this year. Clark is still awaiting a verdict and said there's no indication when the judge will issue a ruling.

"Even though this is as slam dunk of a case as you can get, we're still sitting on pins and needles," he said. "We fought a long, hard battle and winning is extremely important."