As I just mentioned on the Toronado thread, at their grand opening there are rumors of them pouring some beer from the California Alpine. The two Aline breweries have seemingly gotten along well up to this point, but, to the best of my knowledge, neither has poured in the others state. Will this become an issue going forward? If Majerk Hat can force Georgetown to stop using the digit 9 in the name of one of their beers, can two breweries with the same name coexist in the same market?
It probably all depends on how much of a litigious jerk you are! Some people with money are just bullies. example: Years ago a local winery, Lone Canary, was originally going to be called Wild Canary, after the Idaho state bird. Wild Turkey sent them a cease-and-desist. The tiny winery with (at the time) no product even available for purchase of course had to cave in. Apparently Wild Turkey's owners were worried their customers might purchase an entirely different type of alcohol with totally different packaging that was at the time usually sold in different places just because of the word "wild."
