"Collaboration, Not Litigation" – Craft Beer Keeps Creating

In early 2004, Russian River Brewing and Avery Brewing discovered they had a problem. Both breweries were selling a Belgian-style ale called Salvation, and both were concerned about how to resolve the conflict. Meeting in person, Vinnie Cilurzo and Adam Avery came up with a novel resolution: combine the two ales into a single product and call it “Collaboration, Not Litigation.” This creative approach avoided the costs and complications of a trademark infringement lawsuit, and the joint product has been a success for each brewery. Unfortunately, such creativity and willingness to work together is an exception, and the tale should be a cautionary one.

As the craft beer industry explodes in size and reach, breweries are finding there are only so many words you can use to describe beer. City names? Taken. Animals? Taken. Literary references? Landmarks? Puns? All taken, and many of the breweries using them have already sought and obtained trademark registration.

Craft brewers just beginning to enter the market face a degree of competition unforeseen even a few years ago, but there is still room for creative branding and differentiation. The key is to look before you leap, taking the time to evaluate which names and logos will enable your product to be distinguished from a hundred other bottles on the shelf.

Intellectual property attorneys are an essential part of this process. A skilled attorney can determine which names or logos already have trademark protection and can advise which ideas may still run the risk of confusion. More than this, sound legal advice can help small businesses establish a firm foundation on which to grow. The leap from garage brewing to national distribution can happen much faster than you may think, and early caution can pay out in long-term growth.

Unfortunately, brewers will continue to face conflicts with each other as the market grows, and some legal friction cannot be avoided. In those cases, an attorney willing to take a creative approach can save the client time and money, demonstrating the value of collaboration, not litigation.

Sources: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2015/01/05/369445171/craft-brewers-are-running-out-of-names-and-into-legal-spats http://averybrewing.com/our-ales/collaboration-not-litigation-ale/ http://www.kk-llp.com/658-Trademark-Trouble-is-Brewing-in-the-Craft-Beer-Industry

For more information on this topic, please visit our Trademark Litigation service page.

Klemchuk LLP is an Intellectual Property (IP), Technology, Internet, and Business law firm.  The firm offers comprehensive legal services including litigation and enforcement of all forms of IP as well as registration and licensing of patents, trademarks, trade dress, and copyrights.  The firm also provides a wide range of technology, Internet, e-commerce, and business services including business planning, formation, and financing, mergers and acquisitions, business litigation, data privacy, and domain name dispute resolution. 

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