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from the juiced dept
Well, this one is moving fast. It was only a few days ago that we talked about a lawsuit filed by Sycamore Brewing against Stone Brewing for what sure looked like a pretty blatant ripoff of the former’s trademarked slogan, “Keep It Juicy”. What made this story notable was that Stone Brewing is just coming off a large win in court against Molson Coors over a rebrand of Molson’s Keystone beer trade dress. In that fight, as it often does to anyone who will listen, Stone Brewing made a bunch of noise about how it was the protector of the craft beer industry and billed its $56 million win over Molson as a David vs. Goliath scenario. And, yet, here was David turning around and simply ripping off a smaller brewery’s trademark.
Sycamore’s filing both struck out at the story that Stone likes to tell for itself, but also brought the goods. The side by side comparison of the uses in question tell pretty much the entire story.
For that reason, the case seemed like a winner to me. I did not, however, expect that a little over a week later a judge would go so far as to force Stone Brewing to cover up the infringing slogan on all unsold products while litigation continues. Marc Randazza got this win representing Sycamore.
[Judge Frank] Whitney ruled that Stone Brewery is allowed to sell the rest of the current Stone “juicy” beer already out in the market with the branding “Keep It Juicy” on the box. However, Whitney said Stone Brewery must cover up the labels on boxes with white labels to ensure there will not be any sort of “consumer confusion.”
Randazza asked for more, including the removal of the product from stores rather than allowing it to be sold, but this is still a significant order from the court. Again, the trial hasn’t even started yet, though if the case gets that far, it is anticipated it will start sometime over the summer.
The immediate question that leaps to mind is just how much of that Keystone money Stone Brewing is going to get to keep, or will some of it be needed to pay Sycamore Brewing.
Filed Under: beer, keep it juicy, trademark
Companies: stone brewing, sycamore brewing
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