Tag: alcohol
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Italian Winemakers Threaten Legal Action Against British Pubs for Selling Prosecco on Tap
A consortium of prosecco manufacturers has reportedly contacted the United Kingdom’s Food Standards Agency and Intellectual Property Office to threaten legal action under EU trading regulations against British wine bars and pubs that refuse to stop serving the sparkling wine from a keg. Prosecco sales apparently surpassed those of its rival, champagne, for the first…
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Lagunitas Files, Retracts Lawsuit Alleging Sierra Nevada Trademark Infringement
Two days after filing a lawsuit alleging that Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. infringed its stylized label trademark featuring the letters “IPA,” Lagunitas Brewing Co. filed a notice of voluntary dismissal without prejudice in the case and its owner, Tony Magee, publicly commented that he had been “seriously schooled” by the “Court of Public Opinion” following…
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House Lawmakers Propose Bill to Reduce Taxes on Craft Brewers
A bipartisan group of U.S. representatives has proposed legislation that would reduce excise taxes levied on the first two million barrels of beer sold annually by small brewers. Reps. Erik Paulsen (R-Minn.) and Richard Neal (D-Mass.) were joined by Reps. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.), and Patrick Meehan (R-Penn.) in proposing…
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NPR Tracks Trademark Friction in Craft Brewing Market
A January 5, 2015, post on NPR’s “The Salt” blog reports that trademark disputes have come to a head in the craft brewing market, where more than 3,000 companies compete for a dwindling number of pithy beer names. Although many brewers work to resolve issues outside the courtroom, there has also been an increase in…
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Insurer Sues to Avoid Coverage for Templeton Whiskey’s Alleged Mislabeling
Society Insurance has filed a lawsuit in Iowa federal court seeking a declaration that its policy does not require it to defend or indemnify Templeton Rye Spirits in a putative consumer class action alleging that the whiskey distiller falsely represented its products as made from a Prohibition-era recipe. Soc’y Ins. v. Templeton Rye Spirits LLC, No.…
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Settlement Reached in Kirin® False-Ad Lawsuit
Anheuser-Busch Cos. has reportedly settled a consumer class action alleging that Kirin® beer is represented as a Japanese import even though the products sold in the United States are brewed with domestic ingredients in California and Virginia. Suarez v. Anheuser-Busch Cos., No. 2013-33620-CA-01 (Fla. Cir. Ct., 11th Jud. Cir., settlement preliminarily approved December 17, 2014).…
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Maker’s Mark Bourbon Not “Handmade,” Putative Class Action Alleges
Two consumers have filed a putative class action in California federal court alleging that Maker’s Mark® bourbon whisky is not “handmade,” as the alcohol brand advertises, but is instead manufactured using “mechanized and/or automated processes” with “little to no human supervision, assistance or involvement.” Nowrouzi v. Maker’s Mark Distillery, Inc., No. 14-2885 (S.D. Cal., filed…
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Researchers Call for Better Energy Drink Labeling
A study of national poison control center data has reported that public and health care providers filed 5,156 incidents of energy drink exposure between October 2010 and September 2013, with 40 percent of cases involving children younger than age 6. Presented at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2014, the new research warned that among…