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19 August 2016Trademarks

US brewers go to trademark war over ‘Defender’ name

Two US brewing companies are going to war in a trademark dispute surrounding the term ‘Defender’.

Chicago-based Haymarket Brewing Company, which produces an ale called The Defender, has opposed a trademark application for the term ‘Brooklyn Defender Ale’ by Brooklyn Brewing Corporation.

Although it does not yet own a trademark for the term ‘Defender’, Haymarket said it has “substantial goodwill and value” in the name.

Brooklyn applied for its mark on February 16.

According to Haymarket’s opposition, filed on August 12 at the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) in the US, consumers are likely to believe that Brooklyn’s beer is authorised by, or legitimately connected to, its own product.

Haymarket said its The Defender beer is internationally renowned and has won the “highest awards at the largest and most prestigious beer competitions in the world”.

The opposition filing added: “Brooklyn’s ‘Defender’ ale mark, when used for the goods identified in the opposed application, so resembles opposer’s ‘The Defender’ mark as to be likely to cause confusion, mistake, and/or deception.”

Brooklyn Brewery is probably most famous for its Brooklyn Lager and Brooklyn Ale drinks.

It’s been a busy month for beer-related trademark oppositions at the TTAB.

Last week, WIPR reported that the US’s Department for Homeland Security (DHS) had opposed a beer brewer’s trademark application for the term ‘Coast Guard City’.

Grand Armory Brewing applied for the mark in February this year. The mark is for classes 45, 46 and 48, which cover alcohol and beer.

But the DHS, which has owned trademarks for ‘United States Coast Guard’ since 2011 as well as marks for ‘US Coast Guard’ and ‘Born Ready’, opposed the mark on the grounds it might cause confusion with the rescue service.

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Trademarks
12 August 2016   The US’s Department for Homeland Security has opposed a beer brewer’s trademark application for the term ‘Coast Guard City’.