Cerveceria Costa Rica (Magic Hat) Suing West Sixth Brewing

Seems their primary concern is confusion by association, more or less. Like they think customers will be confused that west sixth is a magic hat side project, or something similar. My legalese is a bit rusty, but that was the gist I got.

 

While I dont support Magic Hat at all in this, I really am having a hard time lending my support to West 6th. I dont care for West 6th at all, but thats just my opinion. Ive read all of the news about this including the new story about how Magic Hat says this is all false. I can see both sides of the issue, but in the end, I still think both companies produce mediocre beer.

 

Im not a lawyer nor do I have any experience and I guess legally it makes a little sense, but practically I dont see it. If the breweries had similar logos then it would make more sense. This is a brewery logo versus a specific beer from a brewery logo. Albeit it is probably Magic Hats most famous logo.

 

Have you been to the brewery? I dont care for the Amber at all but I like the IPA. However, the DIPA is great as is Snakes in a Barrel

 

I see what they're trying to claim, but it seems like pareidolia to me. Seeing what you want to see and all that. Hidden codes in the bible, Jesus water stains on the bathroom wall, and people using a version of your logo to cut into your sales profits. Plenty of paranoia at the top with seeing monsters in the shadows.

Or magic hat are a bunch of pricks. I'm split on the issue of which it is.

 

Jimi's dad. He's good at sueing!

 

Sierra Nevada and Deschutes should sue one another over their beautiful majestic mountain labels then.

 

Its lame that they are suing a small craft brewery. But honestly, they had to have ripped off that logo, way too similar. Same star and everything. I had never heard of that brewer, but had saw the label in peoples avatars on here and thought it was some sort of Magic Hat variety. Lame on both parties. Really lame that Magic Hat is suing but also lame to bite their logo. Even if they didn't do it on purpose, at least have the sense to realize that its way too similar. Why would you release a logo so similar to someone elses? I wouldn't want to confuse the consumer.

 

I have not.

After reading everything that has been posted today, I wouldnt put it past West 6th to be doing this whole thing for publicity. I have nothing against West 6th other than what they are putting in cans and how they represent it as the best IPA out there.

 

Although I didn't see it before (probably because I don't ever see West Sixth) West Sixth's logo looks a lot like a rip-off of #9. The typeface, star, and round design are oddly similar. I'm a logo designer so I may see things differently than most.

Yeah, none of you will probably never accidentally order a #9 instead of a West Sixth IPA but there's such a thing as intellectual property and it really doesn't have 100% to do with people confusing your brand. The #9 logo is extremely popular and most people would probably recognize that before the Magic Hat logo.

Magic Hat has been in the business many years establishing their brand and despite BA beliefs they have made some good beer. I would be pissed off if some brand new place made something that similar to my logo. Magic Hat tried to settle by having them alter the logo a little in the article posted above but West 6th didn't budge. Seems childish on their part if that's true.

 

The more I read about this the more pissed I get. Has craft beer become so corporate that we can expect breweries/"craft conglomerates" to sue each other over the design of their labels?

I mean, godammit, this is about the beer isn't it?

 

Second. If your going to make crafty beer, at least do a good job at it.

 

The star and the number have been the center point of this argument and until tonight, I didnt know #9 had a star. The more I look at the pictures, the more I can kind of see the similarities, but I dont know if thats me trying to see it or not.

I wonder what the company that designed the logo has to say.

The sad thing is, #9 was one of the beers that got me into craft beer, although I dont drink it now but they seem to have a solid group of people working for them. I just dont see what they have to gain. I doubt anyone has actually confused the two when you actually have them both available in the same place. I dont know the exact footprint for West 6th, but most of the people around here know what West 6th is.

Sorry, I know this was rambling

 

Just thought of something and I hope it isnt related. KY Ale (lexington brewing AKA Alltech) just released their IPA, also in a can. I hope this isnt a ploy to get more attention to take away from Alltechs IPA. Because one taste and that competition is over. Maybe I have been reading this thread all the related media and I am succumbing to the others opinions.

 

I dont think they portray their beers as the best out there. I surely dont think they are the best out there. I think they are as good as most of the IPAs that are available here. There are some that are better, but i like to support the local brewery and they do great things for the community. If you get a chance, you chould check out the brewery and try some of their offerings.

 

I took out the background of each logo and put them side by side next to eachother. I resized the images so that the "6/9" of each logo was the same size.

IMHO there are definite differences between the two logos. The shape of the numbers are different, the curvature of the font is difference, the stars are not the same and not in the same location, and I had to flip West Sixth's logo 180 degrees for it to resemble a "9"

I hope this side by side view helps point out the differences.

 

If they change the design, will the trade value of the old cans go up?

 

Thanks for sharing that article. The best part of it, in my opinion, is the link to the original legal correspondence between the lawyers for Magic Hat and the lawyers for West Sixth. One detail I thought was interesting is that the star/"dingbat" on the #9 logo isn't included in the registration for the #9 trademark, making it only subject to common law. So one of the biggest elements that people are using to draw the similarities wasn't part of Magic Hat's actual trademark registration.

Furthermore, the Magic Hat brand manager in the Pitch Engine/New Brand article comes of as completely disingenuous. He suggests that West Sixth agreed to make several changes to resolve the lawsuit, but after reading the bulk of the exchange between the two lawyers, it seems clear to me that the Magic Hat lawyers continue to refuse to accept West Sixth's continued attempts to concede some trademark rights to Magic Hat.

To me, it doesn't sound like West Sixth promised one thing then took it back so much as they initially started out willing to negotiate in good faith, then decided that a different tact was in order after it became clear that Magic Hat was not interested in arriving at a reasonable agreement. It was then they decided that they might be able to fight Magic Hat's expectation for overbroad trademark protection by a public campaign, and while I'm skeptical that this is a battle they ultimately have the resources to win (without severe financial implications), I certainly think they are in the right to fight it.

 

This is a great post because it shows how different the two things are even in a highly artificial context where the West Sixth logo isn't being used in a situation even close to it's actual context.

They don't even have the same stylistic approach, so any consumer who honestly gets confused about West Sixth potentially being a Magic Hat product is either lazy or not paying attention at all.

 

Someone should really send that HICu label to PepsiCo and see what they think about it.