Craft beer and trademark theft.

In most instances, it smacks of laziness imo.

 

Parody can be a valid defense for some intellectual property claims, however these examples are not parodies as they are actually a copy of a design for a competing product. There is no appreciation of acceptable levels of parody. If the product were pop, or juice, or just a photo of the bottle, it might be a parody.
But what do I know?

 

I don't know, I take those labels as falling into the parody/homage category - but I'm from the Mad Magazine generation (wasn't there a card or sticker series of similar parody labels for kids, too? After my time in kidhood). Now is it proper or appropriate to use such a parody on a competing* product? It wouldn't seem like it (from the TM lawyer POV) but I'm sure some of those brewers' customers might find it amusing - even the original brands' fans might but does it sell the beer (except as a novelty)? Makes for a fun "just browsing" experience - "Hey, looka this!" if nothing else.

I guess it comes down to art vs commerce. Parody OTOH seem OK - actually pretty common - in advertising. And some professional comedians make a living of imitations. Novels are written with fictional characters and companies that are obvious swipes. Artists of all types are "influenced" by other artists (of course, do that art for blatantly commercial purposes and, well... see "Waits, T. vs Frito Lay".)

Anheuser-Busch once sued a dog chew toy company.

Ah, c'mon. Can'tcha take a joke?
(Looks like similar products are still around, sans a Bud version). AB might have been tiring of such products, given a century of legal battles over the Budweiser brand and numerous lookalike labels.

I thought this one was kinda neat - I'd think the Stroh family and drinkers might have seen it as homage even if Stroh-trademark owner Pabst might not have.

 

Was going to mention this one. It’s around the same price as Rothaus too isn’t it?

 

Definitely the best outlook on it. It’s mostly just harmless fun. If there’s legal action then I’m sure that brewery will stop but what does it matter to the consumer?

 

Whoa!

If true:



Cheers!

 

Yes. Absolutely. Look at Apple, Exxon Mobil, Wal-Mart. I don't think parodying these companies and making money by doing so is of any harm to the average person, if anything I'd say it's a boon and even a brief moment of respite from the terrors of late-stage capitalism.

 

Good. Dilute them, tarnish them. I'm sure the shareholders will be very upset

 

But, at what point, is a business small enough for you to NOT devalue their brand and steal their trademarks?

 

White Elm got a "cease and desist order" for their "Double Stuffed" chocolate cookie imperial milk stout, so they used a different brand of cookie, doubled the cookies, increased the ABV from 8% to 12.5%, and renamed it "Mega C&D". It's much better now.

 

I get it, but this one seems like a stretch to me, although I imagine Oreo has a registered trademark for "Double Stuf". I'm guessing the "chocolate sandwich cookie" tag is what pushed this one over the line.

I really dig White Elm BTW. Their PMA (Positive Mental Attitude) Pale Ale is excellent.

 

That's the problem with virtue signaling. Different people have different "virtues."

 

But they changed the name to meet the order, not the chocolate sandwich cookie description.

Congrats on Poo-Bah BTW!

 

It probably tastes better?

 

I'm pretty certain that all brewery logos/labels must be submitted to a government somebody who either denies them or accepts them, just for this reason.
I remember working at ABC, one of our beer labels got rejected because another brewery had either the same or similar name for their beer.
This was over 20 years ago, so the details elude me a tad.
Erie Brewing Company renamed one of their beers Ole Red Cease & Desist (or something like that) because of the same reason.
I assume that company is supposed to catch any trademark infringement.
With all these new breweries these days, it's becoming more difficult to come up with an unique stupid name for your beer.
Except Purple Monkey Dishwasher. I think that one is safe, I hope.
Dumbest name ever for a beer.
Hey, there's an idea, list of most absurd beer names out there!

 

Like this? The 3 Floyds logo is 99.9% the same as the Revell.

 

That is so close that I gotta' believe it is an intentional copy effort. I wouldn't think that the crossover in types of products (beer vs. toy model kits) would exempt them from copying. I've not seen that logo before, so I wonder if it's done with permission to have something that goes along with the beer's graphics which depict things that Revell has in plastic kit models?

 

It's essentially the same logo and yeah, they must've gotten permission to use it. At least you'd think that. I used to play with Revell toys and build their model planes & ships, tanks, etc. Some FFF packaging, not just the logo, have a similar look as the old school toy boxes.

 

I could split hairs and say something about shareholders, gross sales and brand existence over decades but I genuinely do not give a shit. Devalue everything, steal shit, it's the American way!

Also I'm starting my new brewery next week! Topping Goliath and our flagship ale Pseudo Steve with artwork featuring a man in a dinosaur costume being pegged by the personification of ABinbev.