This may have more interest than the regional forum, but I'll post it here. My opinion this is even more absurd than the recent Magic Hat debacle, but it is what it is. Vampire Slayer gets a new name - Clown Shoes don't have deep pockets, I guess: http://www.clownshoesbeer.com/uncategorized/11334/
I think it goes w/o saying that the lawsuit had very little merit. But unfortunately, defending yourself even if you're right costs money. Clown Shoes did the right thing by avoiding the squabble altogether. I hope the settlement wasn't too costly for them. And it also appears Clown Shoes will gain more fans from all this. Good for them!
That is really annoying. Michael Machat, Vampire Brands, and TI Beverage really suck. This American Life have done a couple good episodes about Patent Trolls. The whole process is such a mess right now and its destroying small businesses.
Not to interrupt the circle jerk too much here, but - as much as I disagree with this lawsuit and general brand infringement lawsuits like this in general - this is NOT patent trolling. You have very much not understood that episode of This American Life. Patent trolls are people and groups who sue others in an attempt to extort them out of licensing fees based on extremely broad patents they own the rights to. For example, someone who sues podcasters because they own a patent that describes a system of "distributing electronic audio files." Not not to mention that patent trolls are companies whose sole existence is based around lawsuits, which this beverage company clearly is not. This is a case of overly-aggressive trademark defense. It's not the first, it is far from the last.
