current events

And a Happy Festivus to all. Let the AOG commence!

FRANK: Welcome, new comers. The tradition of Festivus begins with the airing of grievances. I got a lot of problems with you people! And now you’re gonna hear about it! You, Kruger. My son tells me your company stinks! GEORGE: Oh, God.

Festivus is a secular holiday alternative to Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa, popularized in the December 18, 1997 episode of Seinfeld, The Strike. It is celebrated December 23rd. The Ale is from Cricket Hill of New Jersey and the wine (above) is from Pecan Ridge of Oklahoma.

Despite many problems here in the US, the beer on the left shows the First Amendment is alive and well. Does anyone else find it a remarkable testament to the country’s strength, that the executive branch would affirmatively approve a label rather bashing the sitting president? This label does not pull any punches, with a reference to Brown and the Katrina fiasco. It goes on to say “It’s Fall of 2008, so that means we’ve nearly seen the last of the Ugly American.” TTB has approved only a small number of labels referring to presidents. For those disinclined to find fault with President 43 we’d recommend the Cabernet Sauvignon.

Three out of three West Coast vintners agree it’s a recession. Of these, The Ross Valley Winery (of San Anselmo, CA) was first, with TTB approval on May 6, 2008. Concannon Vineyard (of Livermore, CA) was second, with approval on June 3, 2008. TTB approved the label for Woods Lake Winery (of Woodinville, WA) on October 2, 2008.

This tends to show the common, simultaneous rush to grab onto a promising new trend. It also raises the question of how US trademark law would or should handle several wineries embracing one brand name at about the same time.

Update:  Comment from a veteran trademark lawyer.

In this case, the three West coast wineries probably should have conducted trademark searches for RECESSION RED. Had they done so, they would have found that a Sea Cliff, New York company, Books & Tomatoes, Inc., filed a trademark application in March 2008 to register the mark RECESSION RED for wine. This application may cause these other wineries some difficulty. More…