If you are looking for a great brand name for your new beer, it’s probably taken, as Dan Christopherson explains in today’s Washington City Paper.

The proliferation of breweries and the pressure for them to continuously turn out new styles of beers has created a trademark minefield for names. “Once you come up with an idea, then there’s just this fear that someone else beat you to it,” [Patrick] Mullane says. “Beer names are completely off the wall because there’s just so many of them out there.”

Most breweries will head to sites like ratebeer.com, beeradvocate.com, or Google to get an idea of whether something is already taken. Port City Brewing Company always goes the step further of having its lawyer look into potential names—although not every brewery does this. “You really have to have a more in-depth search that’s done by a professional, someone who knows what they’re doing as far as these trademark searches go,” founder Bill Butcher says. “It’s not something a layman can do an effective job at.”

In 1985, only 188 beer trademark applications were filed in the U.S. Last year, there were more than 4,600. And this year, the number is on track to surpass that, says beer attorney Dan Christopherson, who works for Lehrman Beverage Law in...

Those three little words, above (CRAFTED BY HAND), are causing a ruckus for Angel’s Envy Rye, in Judge Aspen’s court in Chicago.

In the great whiskey wars commencing in 2014, Maker’s Mark had a great day, here, in May. By contrast, Angel’s Envy had a much less propitious day early this week. A federal judge in Illinois dismissed a small part of the class action fraud case against Angel’s Envy, but let big parts go forward. My friends at the Locke Lord law firm, who recently and successfully wrapped up the similar case, against Templeton, explained:

The decision to allow the Angel’s Envy case to proceed past a motion to dismiss is consistent with similar decisions in the cases against Tito’s Handmade Vodka and WhistlePig Rye Whiskey, and signals that the courts are willing to consider consumer-fraud claims against spirits companies that supposedly sell unattributed mass-distilled products while holding themselves out to the market as smaller scale, craft brands. As a result of these rulings, the case will proceed into discovery, which has the potential to be lengthy and expensive.

In my view, the most interesting parts of the 17 page opinion and order are as follows.

1. The potential damages may exceed $5 million, as the brand but not...

At long last, MillerCoors filed its response, in the Blue Moon case, on July 13. The company makes some good arguments, and to my ear, these seem best:

1. MillerCoors is expressly authorized by state and federal law to use the Blue Moon Brewing Company trade name.
   1. The safe harbor doctrine applies where either state or federal law has blessed the conduct at issue. (Here, MC nemesis, A-B, did the former a huge favor in the form of winning the Lime-A-Rita case just in time.) The company is careful to point out that the laws and regulations, not necessarily the label approvals, create the safe harbor.
   2. Should a court find liability under these circumstances, where a registered trade name is used instead of the parent company name, it would dramatically change the way that many corporations operate, effectively standing corporate America on its head. Trade names are used in many industries, and many brands have surprising corporate relationships. Just to name a few: Jiffy Lube is owned by Shell Oil Company, Haagen-Dazs is owned by Nestle in the U.S., Taco Bell and Kentucky Fried Chicken are owned by Yum! Corporation and Ben & Jerry’s ice cream is owned by Unilever.
2. The company’s trade name and trademark registrations put Plaintiff...

Sorry to disappoint anyone, but that’s not Attorney John Messinger over to the left. But it is John, over to the right, covering Gluten-Free Labeling for Beer, Wine and Spirits, in a recent issue of Beverage Master Magazine.

The full article is here. The first few paragraphs are here:

Gluten-free foods and beverages were one of the popular trends of 2014. In the past year, over 70 new alcohol beverage label approvals mentioned “gluten-free,” which is more than the combined total of gluten-free labels in 2012 and 2013. Breweries, wineries and distilleries who wish to cater to the gluten-free diet market and provide those with celiac disease additional choices can do so, but there are a fair amount of rules and red tape to wade through. This article breaks down the federal requirements for gluten-free labeling. Background The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (“TTB”) regulates the labeling and advertising for the majority alcohol beverages. In May 2012, TTB issued an interim policy on gluten content statements in the labeling and advertising of beer, wine and distilled spirits, which allowed some products to make gluten-free claims (TTB Ruling 2012-2). This policy was issued pending guidance or rulemaking by the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) on the subject of gluten-free claims. In...