Alcohol makers do battle over ‘devil’ packaging

A US whisky maker has sued a brewer over devil-themed packaging that is allegedly too similar to that on its own liquor bottles.

In a lawsuit filed at the US District Court for the Western District of Kentucky, Louisville Division, Louisiana-based Sazerac said the packaging and name of the Fire Flask beer was too similar to the Fireball Cinnamon Whisky that it makes.

Fire Flask, which was launched this summer by Stout Brewing Company, has a horned demon figure on its label and, according to the lawsuit, uses the same colour scheme and red bottle caps.

The lawsuit said: “In June 2015—more than fourteen years after Sazerac’s first sale of its Fireball Cinnamon Whisky—defendant introduced an alcoholic malt beverage designed to compete with Sazerac’s product and adopted the confusingly similar Fire Flask mark and product packaging in order to pass off its own product as Sazerac’s.”

The Fireball Cinnamon Whisky’s label features a red dragon-like creature, while Fire Flask displays a glaring red devil in front of two pitchforks.

Fire Flask has a similar horned demon figure, the lawsuit added.

According to the complaint Stout filed a US trademark application in June for ‘Fire Flask’, covering beer.

The complaint, filed on August 14, which accuses Stout of trade dress and trademark infringement, adds: “Defendant chose its Fire Flask mark and packaging to exploit and trade on the longstanding goodwill, reputation, and success of Sazerac’s Fireball product and to create a likelihood of consumer confusion in the marketplace.”

Sazerac is seeking an injunction banning Stout from selling its beer under the Fire Flask label or using any packaging and graphics that are “confusingly similar”.

Sazerac also wants the court to grant it the profits made from Stout’s sales of Fire Flask and to order the US Patent and Trademark Office to cancel the ‘Fire Flask’ trademark application.