Beer brewer accuses competitor of infringing ‘Easy Peasy’ trademark
A collective of breweries has taken action against a competitor for selling beer which allegedly infringes its trademark.
In a complaint filed Thursday, December 12 at the US District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, Canarchy Craft Brewery Collective said Hard Tonic’s sale of ‘Easy Peasy’ beer amounts to trademark counterfeiting.
Deep Ellum Brewing Company, one of the brewers at Canarchy, launched a beer under the trademark ‘Easy Peasy’ in 2015. Canarchy currently sells the bell in Texas and Oklahoma, but has plans to expand to all states in the US by 2020, the filing said.
The name ‘Easy Peasy IPA’ is the only ‘Easy Peasy’ trademark registered in the US for beer.
In its filing, Canarchy alleged that since September this year, Hard Tonic has been using the trademarks ‘Easy Peasy’ and ‘EZPZ’ to sell hard tonic, a type of beer, in Missouri.
It said it has asked the company to stop using the name for months, but its demands have been ignored.
Additionally, Canarchy said Hard Tonic advertises its beer on social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram under the handle @drinkeasypeasy. It has also reserved the domain name drinkeasypeasy.com, the filing said.
According to Hard Tonic’s website, it also intends to release additional flavours of its beer in the coming months.
Canarchy said Hard Tonic is taking advantage of its reputation and brand, and is likely to cause consumer confusion.
It asked the court to order Hard Tonic to stop using the name and destroy all material and products which use the trademark.
It also asked for an award of three times the profits Hard Tonic has made from the sale of its beer.
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