current events

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…

The McCain campaign is not alone in reaching out for this tried and true brand, the Maverick. A fair number of winemakers have proclaimed their independence with the same descriptor. Maverick – Above the Law is a South Australia Shiraz. Four Vines is an Amador County Zinfandel, and is not just independent but “fiercely independent.”