Cerveceria Costa Rica (Magic Hat) Suing West Sixth Brewing

Yea, common sense and personal responsibility (oh, i didn't read the big "West Sixth Brewing" on the label when I accidentally purchased it instead of my Magic Hat #9) are completely gone. Sad, but true.

 

This, my friend, is awesome.

 

I think I read that on the bottom of a West 6th can...

 

Sorry, but this is a ridiculous take. There is another big local brewer, Allltech, that doesn't like West Sixth dominating their home turf and they pushed their distributor to not sell West Sixth. They are also the ones rumored to have contacted MH about this. This is a turf war that had Magic Hat brought into it to push Alltech's agenda. And, Magic Hat has a history of these bully tactics, so they were up to the challenge.

West Sixth has been more than accomodating. Much more than I would have been. This was not a publicity stunt in any way. This has been kept under wraps and they were trying to resolve this amicably. MH shut the negotiations down and sued. Those are the facts. West Sixth smartly took this public because it honestly is their only move.

 

I am not taking sides here but this info certainly changes the whole tone ... FWIW making all of this public was a very bad choice on West Sixth Brewing's part as Magic Hat's lawyers will use much of what is out there now in public opinion against them. You are basically asking the public to decide and it won't take but a handful to say the logos are similar / confusing for West Sixth to lose the case.

Why breweries feel a need to make this stuff public is beyond me.

Just my two cents ...

 

Couldn't disagree more. West 6th really doesn't have much choice. There is not way they can afford the lawsuit and MH knows that. It was MH that was dragging their feet. As far as logo styles being similar, why doesn't Magic Hat sue Boulevard over Love Child #3? Why are they using a mountain dew like logo for one of their beers?

MH is a big brewer using it's lawyers to try to get West 6th to roll over. West 6th agreed to 3 of the 4 points MH wanted. I think it is great they made it public.

I will continue to not drink Magic Hat based on the same reason I haven't been...it's crap beer. Easiest...boycott...ever.

 

Yes, indeed they are ... but going to bloggers, opening it up to public forms makes it a different beast all together IMO. Just more info for the lawyers to use.

 

It is posted in the thread.

 

Did you see the timeline?

West 6th always responded in a timely manner and then Magic Hat responded much slower each time.

And court cases arent swift things, they take forever, so there is no need for "stalling" tactics. If the goal was a media circus, that could have been done if a lawsuit was filed 6 months ago. I think Magic Hat thought West 6th would entirely cave and when they wouldnt give up the numeral six, Magic Hat filed. Clearly MH wasnt wanting a negotiation, they wanted an entire capitulation.

 

Trademark not copyright.

Incredibly different things, but otherwise I agree with you.

 

If true, who is Alltech going to bring in to sue Country Boy.

Anyone else using a pickup truck in their logo?

I rarely get down to Lexington, is West Sixth IPA taking that many tap handles from Kentucky Ale? I have to imagine its that, as otherwise their beers dont really overlap stylistically, so I cant imagine it would be package sales upsetting them.

 

What other choice was there other than go public? Roll over for the big corporate lawyers? Go to court and let their money put you out of business? I would say that MH has put out more info than West 6th by publishing all the correspondence thus showing them to be the ones to be the assholes.

 

While fonts and colors don't "unequivocally" distinguish trademarks, they are indeed distinguishing elements. So no, a company cannot take some other company's logo and simply change the color palette and/or font to be free and clear of any trademark violation. But when we're talking about two logos that only have SIMILAR looking elements (in this case, the star/compass and the 6/9), the context in which those elements are placed (i.e., colors, fonts, styles, etc) absolutely matters.

This is not a case of West Sixth taking the Magic Hat "9" and star and simply changing the color and flipping it. This is a different numeral and a different star that, even when context is completely removed, still look different (albeit similar). And it's not even the whole logo, it's one part of one logo looking somewhat similar to one part of another logo.

I agree that the actual wording of the lawsuit matters, but I fail to see how Trademark Dilution is in play at all here. Doesn't it apply to "famous" marks--I'm not sure that Magic Hat's #9 label qualifies, which is why they will have to demonstrate Likelihood of Confusion. I also thought that dilution was intended to prevent companies from using said "famous" marks in non-competing products. The fact that this is a dispute between two beer companies makes me skeptical that Dilution is the right claim. The fact that Magic Hat didn't register one of the two sticking points (the star) with their original filing also hurts.

 

To show the idiocy of the other side?

Really, "inverted nine mark", they think people are going to buy that bullshit?

A six is a six, a six is not an inverted nine.

 

Perhaps, but sometimes the power of public opinion can help when you have shallower pockets.

 

I think the fact that they are the only 2 that bottle or can their product might have something to do with it.

 

Check out Everybody's Brewing from Washington State and their Country Boy IPA.

 

I presumed the same lawyer would handle either or, I'd never heard of a trademark lawyer until this topic. The suicide rate must be astounding.

 

Tractor v Pickup Truck, I think both are safe.

Then again if a six is a nine....