Patagonnia issues a cease and desist order to a small NB craft brewer

[XXX-er]

I can see it in many instances of a trademark worth protecting but you must admit a yoga practising corporate lawyer shutting down 8 guys doing yoga on a monday night in a small narthern town might be a waste of time ?

I looked her up on linkdin and she practised with bull houser tupper, she must have some files she could be double billing instead of bothering a small town yogini ?

[Supermoon]

Yeah. For sure that one was a bit out there. The patent trolls and trademark narcs are very much cut from the same cloth

[paulster2626]

I can see it in many instances of a trademark worth protecting but you must admit a yoga practising corporate lawyer shutting down 8 guys doing yoga on a monday night in a small narthern town might be a waste of time ?

I looked her up on linkdin and she practised with bull houser tupper, she must have some files she could be double billing instead of bothering a small town yogini ?

Small yacht club my parents have been members at forever had Jimmy Buffett shut down their "Parrot Head Party" one April. Apparently there is an army of lawyers that sue anyone and everyone who may consider having such parties without purchasing a license to do so. They had to change the name of the party to something else, or pay something like $2k to use the name.

This was just a thing for some boat people to get together in hawaiian shirts and listen to Jimmy Buffett music in the early spring. Members only. Seemed strange.

I'm guessing these lawyers just need to pad a stat line of "Mean letters sent this quarter:" to justify their salaries.

[XXX-er]

yeah I agree cuz there wasn't even any money in that ^^ for anyone

[Danno]

To be fair, I had no idea there was a Patagucci branded beer.

To be fair...

I didn't either, but that's not really the point. If it's out there in commerce and they have a trademark and all of that predates the other use (I'm assuming), the "likelihood of confusion" test weighs in their favor. Assuming, of course, that Canuckistan trademark law is the same.

Companies have to defend their trademarks or they become unenforceable. So it’s a catch-22. Either take a PR hit for fighting the “little craft breweries” and the line when they pop up, or end up on a path to losing the enforcement of your name.

I don’t get the sense they have gone full backcountry yet.

Yep. It is a fine line for sure, but backountry took a running leap over the line, while this seems to toe that line.

[riser4]

To be fair...

I didn't either, but that's not really the point. If it's out there in commerce and they have a trademark and all of that predates the other use (I'm assuming), the "likelihood of confusion" test weighs in their favor. Assuming, of course, that Canuckistan trademark law is the same.



Yep. It is a fine line for sure, but backountry took a running leap over the line, while this seems to toe that line.

I don't disagree. It's definitely a hard spot to be in for the stated reasons. Plus the optics for a socially responsible company. Can't win.

[bennymac]

plus it's not about "owning a word"

no one owns the words "rocky mountain" - but you'll face difficulty starting a new bike brand called that

[Meadow Skipper]

Asking the lawyers: Does this sort of thing have to go to all “cease and desist!” from the get-go, or can there be a more or less informal approach? Like a call to the brewery that goes something like ‘Hey bro, we’ve already got the name trademarked on a brew we’re selling. Any chance you could change the name of your brew?’ Maybe add something like ‘Our lawyers are tugging at the leash to get into this, but it’d be great if we could work this out without getting all legal and shit.’

[rideit]

plus it's not about "owning a word"

no one owns the words "rocky mountain" - but you'll face difficulty starting a new bike brand called that

Just like Slayer (the band) doesn’t own the rights to the name Slayer (the bike).
But if Slayer (the band) also sold bikes, (or wanted to) it could get…complicated.

Kill ‘Em All?

[bennymac]

didn't Rocky tell Santa Cruz they already had a bike called Solo - so then the mountain bike became the 5010?

Why didn't Rocky then go after the Star Wars universe when they released a movie called "Solo"?

I guess Star Wars maybe could say they used it first in 1977.

[rideit]

Because Rocky had the Solo long before the Santa Cruz? I think?
It’s all so Elemental.

[Danno]

Asking the lawyers: Does this sort of thing have to go to all “cease and desist!” from the get-go, or can there be a more or less informal approach? Like a call to the brewery that goes something like ‘Hey bro, we’ve already got the name trademarked on a brew we’re selling. Any chance you could change the name of your brew?’ Maybe add something like ‘Our lawyers are tugging at the leash to get into this, but it’d be great if we could work this out without getting all legal and shit.’

I'm no trademark lawyer, but I think the letter is less scary to another lawyer than it might seem to a non-lawyer. It basically is the legal written version of the phone call you describe. And while the phone call can happen and often does (and for all we know it happened here), I don't find the sending of a letter to be that much more antagonistic. And it creates the written record, which the phone call doesn't. And in truth, I imagine that all the phone call does is put that party on notice, I doubt they would do something from just a phone call. And if they do something from just a phone call, it almost surely is because they got legal and contacted THEIR attorneys to figure out if they had to change. So the attorneys are almost surely getting involved, letter or not.

[Danno]

didn't Rocky tell Santa Cruz they already had a bike called Solo - so then the mountain bike became the 5010?

Why didn't Rocky then go after the Star Wars universe when they released a movie called "Solo"?

I guess Star Wars maybe could say they used it first in 1977.

Nope. It has to do with the business you're in. A different bike company selling a bike with the same name creates "likelihood of confusion" (the legal standard). A movie or cracker with the name Solo doesn't create a likelihood of confusion, because we all know that a cracker isn't a bicycle.

[rideit]

Nope. It has to do with the business you're in. A different bike company selling a bike with the same name creates "likelihood of confusion" (the legal standard). A movie or cracker with the name Solo doesn't create a likelihood of confusion, because we all know that a cracker isn't a bicycle.

That was the whole thing with the Specialized vs. (small shop) Roubaix way back when. I didn’t really get it at the time, but S had a point on that one. But they played dirty (or at least distastefully) in a few other ways as well…

[muted reborn]

There's a couple breweries called Stone's Throw, I always wondered why Stone's brewery never shut them down.

[bennymac]

Nope. It has to do with the business you're in. A different bike company selling a bike with the same name creates "likelihood of confusion" (the legal standard). A movie or cracker with the name Solo doesn't create a likelihood of confusion, because we all know that a cracker isn't a bicycle.

Oh I totally get it. I was wondering why the OP was struggling with "who owns a word"

[old goat]

We still have "The BackCountry" sports shop in Truckee.

[teleee]

Oh I totally get it. I was wondering why the OP was struggling with "who owns a word"

The OP struggles with a lot of words.


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

[stapes]

There's a couple breweries called Stone's Throw, I always wondered why Stone's brewery never shut them down.

They went after a local brewery around here that was called Kettle & Stone. Changed their name to Vindication. Not sure if they’re even around anymore.

[warthog]

To be fair...


She'd make a train take a dirt road

[RootSkier]

Did anyone ever see the Bud Light commercials written by John Krasinski where the punchline was "Hold my beer and watch this!"? They were absolutely hilarious. Turns out Big Sky Brewing in MT has that phrase trademarked in the beer space, and Bud Light had to totally scrap all evidence of the ad campaign. Funnest project I ever worked on as a baby lawyer.

And Big Sky still can't sell Moose Drool east of the Mississippi due to a long-ago settlement with Moosehead.

[old goat]

All this is fine until we run out of names that make any sense. Then we'll wind up with bikes and beer with names as dumb as Xarelto and Ozempic. (Damn but I hate the Ozempic song--I hated the original too.)

[Peruvian]

ignore

[jackstraw]

There's a couple breweries called Stone's Throw, I always wondered why Stone's brewery never shut them down.

We have Stoneface brewery here and the owners reached out to Stone before launching and got their blessing to use the name.

[toast2266]

Can't slack on your trademark protections, otherwise half the country thinks it's neat that a cooler company branched out and started making fancy bikes.