Latest Pipeworks Releases and Updates

^THIS!

exactly right.

A) we (almost) always check on BA & rb for names in use before naming a beer
B) it was spur of the moment since we were doing a collab. We added a ton (not literally) of limes juice and lime zest and it's in the Ninja series so we added an adjective to the name... which made sense.
C) sorry 'SCURVY IPA' didn't cross our mind... maybe beer drinkers in Wisconsin would make the connection immediately but that brand from Tyranena didn't cross our mind when we were thinking of SCURVY NINJA.
D) we've had multiple IP concerns come up with other breweries using things similar to our names, but we wrote them a letter/call first to see what was going on before drafting a condesending letter with demands veiled as asking.
E) we of course are changing the name, and would have anyway upon making the connection, as we would hope other brewers would do for things possibly maybe overlapping our IP, but don't insult us as if we did it on purpose to devalue your brand.
F) i'll be checking my e-mails now for a letter from Westbrook
G) either way, the post on BA wasn't supposed to be prompted to beerpulse, as we drop all sorts of insider stuff in this thread and none of it ever garners any outside attention. So don't be angry at Tyranena, they are protecting their brand, but what a friendly way to do so. This gave us the first opportunity to call the printers and scream: "STOP THE PRESSES!!!"

 

Cease and Deninja

 

It was just my opinion. To be fair, shouldn't we hear Tyranena's side on this then make a decision on who was right or wrong?

 

The new name of the beer is MariLime Law.

credit Kate Brankin our newest employee.

 

Off topic. I've always wondered about the "Rye da Tiger" and "Rye of the Tiger", and I realize they're different phrases, i.e. Ride the Tiger vs Eye of the Tiger, but could GLB or FFF make a complaint? Or maybe they're just friendly with each other and don't care.

 

True. That's the most similar ever. FFF had it first, and probably don't give two shits about it.

 

You're a crook captain hook...

 

"Lime Disease" would be awesome. Toss an image of a lime/tick hybrid creature chomping down on someone (maybe a symbolic cheese hat on said person.)

 

When the name salvation was used by both avery & russian river they collaborated instead of litigated.... I d suggest pipeworks do the same....except any collab with tyraneena?? Would result in a scurvy drainpour!!!

 

eeee, you guys run this past jude law first?

 

I'll take Pipeworks over Tyranena any day. Regardless of the name on the label

 

late in the game but wanted to throw in my 2 cents of a beer name.

Pipeworks' Revenge

 

then lucette (another WI brewery) would call foul lol

 

How about Curse of the Ninja?

 

At least get it straight. Liftbridge is the one crying foul. Not that I care for either ones beers, but let's get it right.

 

They must be a real bunch of pricks to send a cease and desist to a self-distributed brewer from another state who were simply using the name for a one-off collaboration. HUGE threat to their likeness going on with that right there. I will probably pass on any of their beers ever again. Here's to a stale death on the shelves of Chicagoland.

 

Stacey, here, from Tyranena.
I normally refrain from posting in forums... But I feel like it’s time for me to chime in on counterpart on behalf of Tyranena. Long-winded as it may be, I hope those interested take a moment to understand the flip-side of this situation!

I think it’s safe to say that most aspiring brewers open a brewery because they are passionate about one thing... beer. Our story is no different. Tyranena’s founder is a homebrewer who took his love and turned it into a small-business. My point is that we are not some huge, faceless corporation; there are just a handful of employees here at Tyranena, only 5 being full-time. As such, we each take a great deal of pride in and ownership of our beer, including all the minute details that go into making it.

Each and every one of Tyranena's releases is thoroughly contemplated and researched, from the ingredients and process to the story and design of the labels and packaging. Sometimes it takes us months... in some cases even years... to complete. But part of that process always includes due diligence; making every effort to not step on the toes, dreams and property of others. And with every craft brewery that comes into existence it becomes more difficult for any brewer to find a niche and hold on to the individuality of their creations. So can Tyranena really be faulted for being protective of a beer name that we’ve cultivated, invested in and sold for many years now? One that has become a popular seasonal release for our brewery? I’m just not seeing how this makes Tyranena the bad guy...

The fact is that while our passion is making beer that doesn’t change that beer is our business. And business, be it in an industry of camaraderie and friendly competition or not, is still just that: business. So, yes, I wrote the “cease & desist letter” that Pipeworks claims mucked up their Friday... although I didn’t think it was quite as formal as all that! (And, believe me, this whole dilemma mucked up my Friday as well... followed by Sunday and now Monday and Tuesday too!)

When an employee showed me Pipeworks’ Facebook post regarding their pending release of “Scurvy Ninja”, three things caught my eye: 1. scurvy (in the name itself); 2. the pirate themed logo; 3. the style of the beer being an IPA brewed with citrus fruit. It was the combination of these things that set off my red alert... I don’t care if the release is 50 cases or a million... the whole thing seemed too similar. Just too similar to be ignored.

We understand it’s entirely possible that Pipeworks was unaware of Tyranena’s Scurvy IPA; we are not so arrogant as to think ourselves wholly renown. But a simple Google search of “Scurvy” prior to the naming of their new release would easily have brought Tyranena's beer to their attention. Or, better yet, a search on BeerAdvocate would have shown that “Scurvy” was an active release from Tyranena. So I decided to whip up the email to Pipeworks in order to open the path of communication.

Now... had this been a Wisconsin brewery, perhaps my email would have been more informal than it was... but I’ve never had the pleasure of meeting anyone from Pipeworks (and I’m fairly confident they wouldn’t know me from a face in the crowd either). So, preferring to err on the side of professionalism, I left out all the emoticons, exclamation points and profanity that may have otherwise riddled my email! And I read it through at least a dozen times before sending it; I’m still not exactly sure how it was interpreted as condescending or insulting but, regardless, that was surely not my (or Tyranena’s) intent!

To be as transparent as possible, feel free to give my email a read for yourself: http://tyranena.com/PipeworksEmail05032013.PNG. I’m certainly not a lawyer but, having been around the block a few times, I made sure to send a copy of the note to the brewery’s attorney, Dan. I like to keep him in the loop! Besides, again, that’s just good business. (C-Y-A and all that jazz...)

So what we had hoped would be an amenable discussion between colleagues, via email or telephone, has unfortunately blossomed into a pretty one-sided commentary that seems conspicuously like an online lashing of a fellow brewer... all because we tried to protect our interests. I’ve now seen posts about the matter on BeerAdvocate, Twitter and BeerPulse... It’s certainly a shame and a bit disappointing, especially because some of the remarks I’ve read are misleading while others are clearly uninformed and blatantly wrong. But if these are the platforms upon which Pipeworks feels most comfortable addressing the issue at hand, so be it. We certainly have nothing to hide! But I do think it’s pertinent to point out that throughout this situation, we have not lowered ourselves to speaking negatively or derogatively of another brewery.

Thankfully, some readers have understood our plight and the way that trademarks work. Our options for action were limited and time-sensitive. On BeerPulse, “Bill” summed it up nicely: http://www.tyranena.com/BeerPulseComment.PNG.

We reached out initially via email last Friday and our Chicago salesperson, Nick, physically went to Pipeworks’ brewery on Monday to discuss the matter with them in person. Through posts and online comments, we understand that Pipeworks intends to rename their upcoming release “MariLime Law” (clever). However, no one from Pipeworks (or Tired Hands, their collaborator on this beer) has reached out to us directly in response... the only responses we have seen have been found in online forums and social media, which doesn’t strike me as an incredibly friendly way of going about resolving the matter at hand. But... C’est la vie.

To Pipeworks: Our sincere best wishes with your upcoming release of “MariLime Law”; if any of your peeps are ever in the Lake Mills area, stop in and we'll buy you a beer.
Stacey Schraufnagel
Tyranena Brewing Company

 

Sent a Well Read Temptress out in a BIF as the person said they like Berliners. Got a message back this weekend that they thought it was the best beer out of 6 boxes they've had thus far. Pretty high praise for our local nano from a guy in the San Diego area. I decided to post this partially so the Pipeworks guys get their praise, but also partially to try and shift the discussion. Let's hope it works.

 

i really hope they don't.

ft: screenshots iso: RTA