What’s in a name? In East Aurora, the Roycroft name is at the center of a legal battleground over plans to open a teahouse.

Michael and Maryna Caputo intend to open the Roycroft Tea Co. in a privately owned building on the edge of the Roycroft campus. The structure, at 431 Main St., once housed the East Aurora Chamber of Commerce.

But officials of the Margaret L. Wendt Foundation, which owns and operates the historic Roycroft Inn, say using the Roycroft name would amount to trademark infringement.

The Caputos, who live on South Grove Street, said they caught the entrepreneurial spirit during a recent trip to India and its tea plantations. The Roycroft Tea Co., they say, would complement the campus, being restored by the Roycroft Campus Corp., and enhance the village’s status as a destination.

But the Margaret Wendt Foundation, which has invested millions of dollars in the campus, insists the Roycroft name is not a freebie.

“The foundation has no objection to the tea company, but we do have an objection to the name,” said Charles C. Martorana, foundation attorney. “This creates confusion as to where a person is going — the tea company vs. the Roycroft Inn. We have fought hard to get the rights to this name and have spent a significant amount of dollars that will go into the development of the Roycroft name and campus.”

Following a public hearing last week, the Village Board granted a special-use permit for the business. And despite a heated debate, village officials decided the name issue had nothing to do with the permit.

The foundation and Caputos later vowed to duke it out in court.

The teahouse’s proposed sign, printed in arts-and-crafts-style lettering, reads: Roycroft TEA Co. From Farm to Family. The business’ Internet Web site — RoycroftTea.com — includes a photo of Elbert Hubbard, founder of the Roycroft movement. The Caputos say they hope to open in late May. The second story of the building would house the teahouse, while the lower level would provide space for administrative offices and filling Web orders.

The business would specialize in premium organic loose leaf and exotic teas. It also would offer for sale local baked goods, tea accessories, candies and “Roycroft Coffee.”

“It’s going to be the Roycroft Tea Co., or I’ll die trying,” said Michael Caputo, a public relations executive and campaign manager for gubernatorial candidate Carl P. Paladino.

“The Wendt Foundation are job killers and are out to sell $25 chicken breasts to the people of this village,” he added. “History is not for sale to the highest bidder. I relish to prove the limits of their legal abilities in Western New York.”

The Caputos have hired Anne F. Downey, a patent and trademark attorney who applied in January for a trademark for the company name, logo and tag line, as applied to the planned products. In a recent letter to Wendt Foundation attorneys, Downey claimed serious questions about the extent to which the foundation can claim exclusive rights.

The teahouse also plans to “box and sell its [products] aggressively on the Internet as Roycroft teas,” Caputo said. “We will not serve alcohol, but we will serve some very powerful tea.”

Martorana, meanwhile, refused to back down.

“[The Caputos],” he said, “are one of many” who want to use the Roycroft name.

“You can’t let one just go ahead. We’re not going to let them go off and do what they want.”