Three Floyds Releases

I would say it’s more than here and there.

“It’s Not Normal” is printed on the handle of every six pack carton, and is prominently displayed on their tap handles.

It’s their tag line.

And your Pink Floyd thing makes no sense. They don’t brew beer and is in a different industry.

I can’t open up Do it To It sneakers - Nike would be all over that.

But Do it to it plumbing is fine.

 

Wow, if it's on the draft handle it's case closed in my opinion. Forgot they did that. Clearly part of the marketing.

 

Wowee, that's a doozy!

You're intent on arguing that you'll confuse Abnormal Beer Co. with 3 Floyds Brewing Co. due to a tagline few outside of the beer geekdom are aware of, but you don't see the correlation that a non-geek, gift-seeking mom might make between 3 Floyds and Pink Floyd?

Advertising and branding is a huge part of Nike's image. However, "It's Not Normal" is not on commercials every day being spoken by superstar athletes and printed on t-shirts millions of people wear on a daily basis.

No one currently confuses, and ever will confuse, 3 Floyds with Abnormal.

 

Could Mel Brooks sue me if I open a Neurological Clinc called "Abby Normal"?

 

If Abnormal added another word so it was a descriptor of something other than the beer I think they would be fine.

Abnormal Octopus Brewing
Abnormal Abnormality Brewing
Abnormal Test Brewing

 

Ab-(it's not)-normal Floyds Brewing Co.

 

Afraid not.

 

It's only going to get worse when they rebrand as "Heyoka Brewing"

 

Seems like a frivolous lawsuit. That’s law in this country for you though, the big guy wins because the little guy can’t afford to stay in court.

Surprised that 3Floyds doesn’t sue Surly over Darkness Day because of the likeness of Dark Lord Day

 

I love that people are now trolling Three Floyds on social media. They deserve it though... haha

 

I just asked a real lawyer who works in the real beer industry and this is what he says:

"Given the background on this, it seems like it’s more a case of lawyers being overly aggressive in trying to protect a trademark. I don’t see a high likelihood of confusion here, and I imagine they’ll be able to settle this without going to court."

 

Although.....that's not the impression I'm getting from Abnormal. Seems like they think this is a fight.

 

Considering Nick told the Abnormal guys in person they could work it out, I definitely lean towards this being the legal department

 

That's correct... for 2017.

I remember we were coming back from 4 Elf Day in 2016 the day they released it.

 

They aren't worried about 1 beer and 1 day a year, they are worried about their brand and marketing. No C & D for Bark Lord Day or Pale Pauper Day as those are parodies... They are going to protect their brand identity within the beer industry as the opposite of normal. They may even let Abnormal keep the name if Abnormal agrees not to market themselves in certain ways and/or expand beyond a certain point.

 

The people on Instagram calling for Dreamworks to sue them for infringing on the Trolls brand with their BrooDoo label might have a real point.

 

I mean, there probably are.

 

Which is particularly funny, because metal has a thousand bands with incredibly similar names.

 

Except that FFF's Broo Doo label has been around for 10+ years and Trolls came out in 2016? Be pretty damn funny if this backfired and FFF wound up with the film rights to Trolls.

 

Those stupid Troll dolls have been around since at least the 90s. I remember them from when I was a kid. I'm sure parody law covers FFF's usage of the imagery, but the more I look the more the whole suit seems to be a pot calling the kettle black situation. Maybe Abnormal should just add in some imagery that is blatantly similar to FFF, but just a tiny bit off. Then they could also claim to be a parody the way Nathan Fielder did with his 'Dumb Starbucks' business.