Disputin Bout Rasputin: Beer Trademark Woes

Brouwerij De Molen (Belgium) and North Coast Brewing (California) have reached an agreement regarding competing beer names.  North Coast, producer of Old Rasputin, contacted De Molen, producer of Rasputin, in hope of stopping them from using the name Rasputin for their beer.  North Coast’s Old Rasputin was already one of the most widely available Imperial Stouts in the US Market for a number of years when De Molen’s Rasputin appeared in US stores just last year.  The use of the name Rasputin by De Molen could likely dilute the trademark of North Coast when sold in the same stores.  The two came to an agreement in lieu of a long court battle.

The agreement caused De Molen to stop using the Rasputin name, but not without taking a shot at North Coast in the process.  After changing the name of their beer to Disputin, De Molen printed the following under the name, ”This stout used to be called Rasputin, but the people who make Old Rasputin in California thought you were too dumb to tell the two products apart, and threatened to sue us for trademark infringement.” [LABEL IMAGE]  While many breweries are teaming up to create collaborative brews, some continue to fiercely compete.

Full Story From Beernews.org

categories IP, International, News | Jeff Kanof | datetime November 30, 2009 5:45 pm | comments Comments (1)

Vermont Brewery Challenged by Monster Energy Drink Over Trademark

Rock Art Brewery owners Matt and Renee Nadeau received a cease and desist letter from makers of Monster Energy Drink (Hansen Beverage Company) to stop selling its Vermonster beer and drop its efforts to get a federal trademark for the name.  Hansen claims use of the name Vermonster beer “will undoubtedly create a likelihood of confusion and/or dilute the distintive quality of Hansen’s Monster marks.”  Although several lawyers have advised Rock Art that they would likely prevail in the legal battle, it is unclear whether the small brewery will have the funding to go up against a company like Hansen who has revenues of around $600 million per year.

UPDATE: Monster and Rock Art came to an agreement that Rock Art may continue to use the name “Vermonster” as long as it stays out of the energy drink business.  LINK

categories Copyright, IP, News | Jeff Kanof | datetime October 16, 2009 2:07 pm | comments Comments (0)

WordPress Themes