Elvis Presley’s estate loses TM dispute to UK brewery
Scottish brewery BrewDog has won a trademark battle against the estate of Elvis Presley over the use of the word “Elvis” on one of its beers.
According to a press release published by BrewDog on Monday, January 29, the craft beer company has won the right to use the trademark ‘ BrewDog Elvis Juice’ for its blood orange and grapefruit-infused IPA.
In October 2016, WIPR reported that BrewDog co-founders James Watt and Martin Dickie had allegedly received a notice of trademark infringement from the Presley estate. The letter claimed that BrewDog could not use the name of the late musician on its products.
In response, Watt and Dickie changed their names by deed poll to Elvis.
They said at the time: “By the Elvis Presley estate legal team’s logic, I am pretty sure we could even lodge a counter-complaint aimed at Presley himself for all the records he put out without Elvis Watt and Elvis Dickie’s permission!”
BrewDog applied to trademark ‘ BrewDog Elvis Juice’ in March 2016, and ‘ Elvis Juice’ in November 2015 at the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO). The applied for trademarks fall under class 32, which covers beer and ale.
Both applications were opposed by ABG EPE IP, the estate of Presley, which owns a number of trademarks relating to Presley.
The applications were rejected by the UKIPO, so Watt and Dickie appealed against the rejections.
On January 16, the UKIPO allowed the appeal for ‘BrewDog Elvis Juice’, but denied the appeal for ‘Elvis Juice’, claiming that consumers may associate the latter with Presley.
BrewDog may now proceed with the registration of ‘BrewDog Elvis Juice’.
Phillip Johnson, the appointed person who issued the UKIPO’s judgment, said that although the name Elvis may have connotations to Presley, also known as the “King of Rock n’ Roll”, the name is not exclusive to Presley. He then cited musician Elvis Costello as another famous Elvis.
He added that ‘BrewDog Elvis Juice’ conjures several concepts to mind, such as dogs, brewing and liquids, whereas Elvis is just a name, according to Johnson.
“As none of the elements dominate, there is a low level of conceptual similarity between the marks,” he said.
No costs are payable by either party.
BrewDog is celebrating its victory by giving a free ‘BrewDog Elvis Juice’ to anyone that dresses up as Presley at one of its bars this weekend (February 3-4).
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