Additional Blogs of Interest

Breweries and other businesses are currently under quarantine restrictions related to the outbreak of COVID-19. Breweries in Colorado can sell beer to go but cannot have on-site consumption. Because on-site consumption represents such a significant revenue stream for most breweries, everyone is looking for ways to stay afloat. One brand new possibility for Colorado Breweries is home delivery. On Friday, Governor Jerad Polis issued an executive order temporarily allowing breweries with a wholesale license to deliver beer directly to consumers. That order also permits restaurants to deliver alcohol with food orders. The Colorado Liquor Enforcement Division immediately issued guidelines for home delivery of beer and alcohol under the order. Accordingly, a brewery must:

On September 25, 2019, a popular Indiana craft brewery filed a federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana against a New Jersey spiked beverage producer it claims has tarnished its name and hurt its sales with inferior but similar-sounding products.

In a trademark dispute over the brand-name ROGUE, the United States District Court of the Southern District of New York ruled that Excelled Sheepskin & Leather Coat Corp. (Excelled) cannot appropriate Oregon Brewing Company’s (OBC) right to utilize the ROGUE mark because OBC is the senior user of the name.

In a complaint filed on May 9, 2019, in Los Angeles federal court, Guns N’ Roses (GNR) accused Longmont-based brewery Oskar Blues of trademark infringement and dilution for marketing and selling a beer named “Guns ‘N’ Rosé.” The infamous rock band alleged that the brewery “intentionally trade[d] on the GNR’s goodwill, prestige, and fame” by selling Guns ‘N’ Rosé since early 2018, and purposefully leading consumers to believe the band is connected with the beer. The band sought unspecified damages.

On April 9, 2019, Patagonia, Inc. and Patagonia Provisions, Inc. (collectively referred to as “Patagonia”), sued Anheuser-Busch, LLC (AB) for trademark dilution and obtaining a fraudulent trademark after theprominent beer manufacturer launched a beer called “Cerveza Patagonia” in the United States.  Patagonia filed suit following Cerveza Patagonia’s launch, hosted by AB at Colorado ski resorts, where its representatives “dressed in black down jackets with AB’s PATAGONIA logo on the chest and gave out beanies, scarves, and t-shirts all bearing the same PATAGONIA logo,” and marketed the beer as an environmentally-conscious product with its “1 tree for 1 case” pledge.

On November 12, 2018, Tech and Goods, Inc. (Plaintiff) filed a complaint against Tooletries, LLC, and Tooletries Pty. Ltd. (together, Tooletries Defendants) and 30 Watt Holdings, LLC (30 Watt) (Defendants). Plaintiff alleged that Defendants’ “Sudski” and “Sipski” products violated various provisions of the Lanham Act, violated the Michigan Consumer Protection Act, and constituted common law unfair competition. On December 6, 2018, 30 Watt filed a motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction and improper venue. On January 4, 2019, Tooletries Defendants followed suit and filed a similar motion.

On August 2, 2017, Monster Energy Company brought a trademark action against BeastUp LLC, alleging trademark infringement under the Lanham Act, trademark dilution, and unfair competition under California statute and common law, arising out of BeastUp’s use of the “BEASTUP” mark, which is allegedly similar to Monster Energy’s “UNLEASH THE BEAST!” mark, and related claw marks. Monster Energy moved for summary judgment on October 4, 2018.

In the United States today, there are more than 7,000 craft breweries. Even so, those 7,000-plus breweries produce only a small percentage of beer sold. Accordingly to the Brewers Association – a nonprofit trade association that represents the interests of many small (production of 6 million barrels or less per year), independent (less than 25% non-craft owned) brewers, beer production in 2018 hit 194,278,588 barrels, 13% of which was attributed to craft breweries, 18% to imports, and a whopping 68% to other “big beer” domestics (Miller-Coors, Anheuser-Busch InBev (“ABI”), and the like).

Aside from the tasty brews which make any great taproom or brewery stand out, what's important is the atmosphere in which you enjoy your specially crafted beverage. Whether the music is a focal point, or faded into the background, the music that an establishment decides to play for its patrons is paramount to the atmosphere it provides. The music provided for that atmosphere is not without cost though; a cost which tends to be over demanding and opaque due to the lack of information available when obtaining music licenses. However, recent legislative developments have been directed at creating a more user-friendly digital database for historical and current copyright ownership and licensing information.

Following Prohibition’s repeal in 1933, the regulation of commerce in alcohol was widely delegated to the individual states. Save for broad constitutional parameters and minimal Federal alcohol laws (such as the 1986 National Minimum Drinking Age Act), the states and their localities possess power to regulate alcohol from manufacturer to wholesaler to retailer to consumer and everywhere in between.