3 November 2014Trademarks

Beer company hits back in Star Wars trademark scrap

A brewing company targeted by Star Wars director George Lucas’s film company has hit back at its opposition to a trademark with a mischievous video message.

In a video posted online on Friday (October 31), Empire Brewing Company said it was “never its intention” to cause confusion with the Star Wars film,  The Empire Strikes Back, when it named and trademarked its beer ‘Strikes Bock’.

Bock is a name for a strong type of German lager.

During the video, in which Empire’s owner David Katleski talks directly to the camera, a man dressed as a Stormtrooper, one of the characters from the film series, can be seen stirring a vat of beer with a light sabre in the background.

The company was responding to a notice of opposition filed by Lucasfilm last month in response to Empire’s attempt to trademark ‘Strikes Bock’.

In its opposition, filed at the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, Lucasfilm described Empire’s trademark as “virtually identical in sound, appearance, and connotation” to its own ‘The Empire Strikes Back’ trademark.

But, in the video, Katleski said it should be viewed as a parody.

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