Trademark follies: North Coast Brewing and De Molen go toe to toe over Rasputin
(Bodegraven, NETHERLANDS) – For whatever reason, trademark matters have come to the surface a lot recently; I can think of at least four disputes from the past month or so. There was the infamous Rock Art Brewery vs. Monster Energy battle, Moylan’s losing its Kilt Lifter name in some areas, Odell and Red Lodge squaring off, and now this. De Molen, imported by The Shelton Brothers, started sending their beer over to the States last year. One of those beers, De Molen Rasputin, has apparently struck a chord with well-known California-based North Coast Brewing.
De Molen has given us the gist of what happened right on the label: “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.” North Coast Brewing, of course, has one of the most widely available Imperial Stouts in the U.S. market called Old Rasputin. In response to North Coast’s communication, the beer is now aptly named De Molen Disputin in the States.
The good news here is that there more top notch beer is coming our way. On the other hand, despite all the camaraderie and collaborations we’ve seen this year, this is indicative of some of the ugliness that lives down in the trenches. These trademark matters may be routine for some breweries but still dangerous from a PR perspective. Protecting your brands is a worthwhile endeavor though you do so at your own risk as Hansen Beverage found out in the Monster Energy case.
Whereas that case seemed rather frivolous, it is difficult to argue one way or the other here. A brewery or two carrying the Rasputin name may not be a big deal at all but could be seen as diluting the value of North Coast’s beer if both are sold in the same stores. It also may open up the door for other breweries to use the Rasputin name if they don’t challenge this one. At least the breweries came to an agreement without going forward into the lengthy trademark trial and appeal process, one that is governed by an 849 page behemoth of a procedure-setting document.
Some breweries have made it that far though. Recent notables:
Still ongoing . . . the makers of Original Bartenders Hot Sex Cocktail are alleging that Foothills Sexual Chocolate infringes on its mark. Foothills Brewing has issued an official “answer” to the plaintiff (establishing its formal opinion on the alleged infringement) and that is where it stands at the moment. They also went after 638 Brewing who also makes a beer called Sexual Chocolate.
Duke University went after Duke Brewing back in June. An extension of time was granted but nothing further seems to have come from it.
In May, Shipyard Brewing alleged that the Landmar Group had infringed on its Shipyard marks. The Landmar Group owns The Shipyards, a downtown residential/commercial development in Jacksonville. Paperwork says that Landmar is involved in bankruptcy proceedings and the case has been suspended pending investigation.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
November 24th, 2009 at 9:06 am
shame on north coast, they should have done a collaboration not litigation. This trademark thing is really pissing me off, if the name is not exactly the same it should be ok.
November 24th, 2009 at 12:33 pm
[...] – USA uenighed: Trademark follies: North Coast Brewing and De Molen go toe to toe over Rasputin [...]
November 24th, 2009 at 1:30 pm
Why shame on North Coast?
When you spend 12 years investing in a brand, building a name and establishing a quality product, not to mention the time and real money required to comply with ATF and state alcoholic beverage control requirements, then someone comes in with the SAME STYLE of beer (Russian Imperial) and the SAME NAME (that label said “De Molen’s Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout” you should have every right to protect your investment.
Having two (Old) Rasputin Russian Imperial Stouts would be confusing to the market.
This is a business, not a hobby. North Coast is one of the largest employers in Ft.Bragg – a town that has lost its timber business over the last 50 years. When you lose market share over things like this, it is a real business issue.
Shame on De Molen for even referencing the issue on their label.
November 24th, 2009 at 5:23 pm
I’m glad to hear this. I love the good old North Coast-Old Rasputin and there’s only one Raputin in my book. Two Russian imperial stouts with VERY similar names will definitely cause confusion, and more than likely people who HAVE made this mistake will most likely just take offense to the disclaimer on the bottle.
November 24th, 2009 at 6:02 pm
I’m with North Coast on this one as well, and find the new De Molen label to be poor: North Coast defending its trademark does NOT equate with thinking beer drinkers to be too dumb to know the difference. That’s just an unnecessary shot at North Coast. Especially because I can’t see either De Molen or the Shelton Brothers saying “that’s fine, that’s cool” if someone were to come out with a De Mole brew or start an beer importing company called the Shelton Siblings.
November 24th, 2009 at 6:19 pm
I can see North Coast’s side of this argument. The two names were identical, and the product bearing their name is identical – not just beer, but russian imperial stout. I can understand why this would potentially be confusing to some customers who aren’t very familiar with either of the brews, so I think it’s a little lame of De Molen to rip on North Coast for seeking to enforce this IP right.
Plus, unlike Hansen, whose legal theory was frivolous, this seems like a clear case where North Coast would be required to assert its property rights to avoid waiving its rights. (trademark law requires trademark holders to actively enforce their rights, or risk waiving those rights)
November 25th, 2009 at 10:14 am
One other thought – De Molen may be risking a defamation lawsuit with the new caption on its label. Arguably, it’s just opinion. But it certainly portrays North Coast in a bad light, and unfairly so.
November 25th, 2009 at 11:04 am
i my opinion this implies that north coast thinks their customers are too dumb to know the difference between the two…
the de molen beer did not say “De Molen’s Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout”, it says “Browerij de Molen Rasputin”…
the beer bottle looks completely different, the name is different, and it is from another country…
Shame on North Coast…
November 26th, 2009 at 9:52 am
[...] under ÖÖWF hamnat i (lättare) blåsväder för enligt diverse amerikanska bloggar och nu även en artikel på beernews.org har De Molen Rasputin hamnat i namnfejd med North Coast Brewing Co och deras Old Rasputin. Gissa [...]
November 30th, 2009 at 5:45 pm
[...] Full Story From Beernews.org [...]
November 23rd, 2009 at 8:31 pm
Trademark follies: North Coast Brewing and De Molen go toe to toe over Rasputin http://ff.im/-bUz5q
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
November 23rd, 2009 at 8:44 pm
Trademark follies: North Coast Brewing and De Molen go toe to toe over Rasputin http://bit.ly/8MK1bJ
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
November 23rd, 2009 at 9:44 pm
beernews.org: Trademark follies: North Coast Brewing and De Molen go toe to toe over Rasputin: (Bodegraven, NETHERL… http://bit.ly/8MK1bJ
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
November 23rd, 2009 at 9:56 pm
Another beer-world trademark dispute: RT @djavet: Trademark follies: North Coast Brewing and De Molen http://bit.ly/5bHxhc
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
November 24th, 2009 at 10:22 am
I LOVE the name change. Kudos to De Molen (but I’m not staging a boycott against North Coast, it is more confusing the Monster Energy Drink and Vermonster barleywine since both are beers in this case and both are imperial stouts).
This comment was originally posted on FriendFeed
November 25th, 2009 at 11:10 am
@legallibations I do think this infringement junk has gone far enough, although clever renaming – http://ow.ly/FyFM
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
November 30th, 2009 at 11:02 am
De Molen Disputin arises from the ashes of trade mark dispute over Rasputin http://ow.ly/GRaQ
This comment was originally posted on Twitter