Small Irish Craft Beer Joint Has Actually Original Trademark Opposed By Holder Of A Purely Geographic Mark
from the mark-it-place dept
It seems like not a week can go by without some silly trademark dispute in the alcohol industries. This latest example comes to us from Ireland and provides a vivid demonstration for why trademarks ought to only be granted on unique and original names and not, say, on a mark based on common geography.
Leo Mansfield of the Connemara region of Ireland opened a storefront business and called it “Conn O’Mara” after the titular fictional character he created as something of a mascot for the store. He registered the name “Conn O’Mara” as a trademark in 2009, as well as the logo for the Conn O’Mara character he created. All of this is perfectly original stuff, a fun and fictionalized nod to the Irish region where the storefront is located. In 2015, however, Mansfield decided to release a line of craft beer through the store as well and filed for a trademark on the name and logo to be used on his brews. Beam Suntory, headquartered in Chicago with two distilleries in Ireland, filed a notice of opposition to Mansfield’s trademark, claiming that it has a registered mark for “Connemara” for the liquor marketplace.
Cooley Distillery claimed that products under the ‘Conn O’Mara’ mark could be confused with its own Connemara Irish whiskey products.
“I am appalled by the idea that Cooley Distillery would attempt to trademark ‘Connemara’,” Mansfield said in his counter statement seen by The Spirits Business. “Connemara is the world renowned geographical area of outstanding natural beauty in which I live and do business. If Cooley Distillery’s intent is to stifle local commercial activity and deny the use of the geographical name of the area to goods and services from the area, then I am outraged.”
And with good reason. Mansfield’s trademark is original, a fictional character and name that playfully serves as an homage to the region. Beam Suntory’s mark, however, is the name of the region. Even putting aside my personal crusade to get the trademark offices of the world to recognize that the beer, wine, and liquor marketplaces are distinct enough to deserve their own trademarks, allowing a major industry to lock up a trademark for a name that is a geographic area is just plain silly. It’s not original, it’s not distinctive, and it treads on all of the other existing and potential businesses within that geographic area.
It seems some of the locals in Connemara are on Mansfield’s side.
Mansfield told The Spirits Business he decided to “go public” with his point of view now because he was “fed up” with the lengthy process. He added that local bars have decided to get behind him “and will be contacting the reps”.
Now, Beam Suntory is a huge company, but it still can’t be worth the PR hit and the local patronage of these Connemara businesses to fight a storefront shop with a unique name and fictional character.
Filed Under: beer, conn o'mara, connemara, geographic indicators, geographic marks, trademark
Companies: conn o'mara, cooley distillery
Comments on “Small Irish Craft Beer Joint Has Actually Original Trademark Opposed By Holder Of A Purely Geographic Mark”
Cooley not even in Connemara
Website lists their distillerys as being in Kilbeggan and Cooley.
Re: Cooley not even in Connemara
Well of course not! How can they possibly open a business in Connemara if they don’t own a trademark on the name of the region!
And how can they open a business there if some local has been ripping off their Connemara trademark for 6 years prior to them applying for the Connemara trademark!
should we pay the decendants of those that made
madness…
like Neils bor, should his descendants now be being paid for chemistry and in particular nuclear weapons?
sorry off topic but this is what intellectual property really means
Could not find any evidence that the distillery has a registered trademark as you assert. Cite in support of this statement?
Re: Re:
A couple of things:
1. They didn’t assert it, the distillery did in their trademark opposition.
2. A quick Google search shows this: https://trademarks.justia.com/774/39/connemara-77439124.html
Re: Re: Re:
Uh…you have cited what appears to be a registration in the US, which, of course, has no relevance to activities within Ireland.
What I searched that gave rise to my question were the records of Ireland’s Trademark Office. They revealed an application made several years ago that apparently was not favorably acted upon.
Re: Re: Re: What are you getting at?
I’m not sure what your point is. Is the situation better if Connemara isn’t trademarked?
Techdirt is arguing that an inappropriate, generic trademark is being abused to stifle a legitimate trademark.
You’re arguing that a legitimate trademark is being stifled, and the company who’s stifling it doesn’t even own the trademark they assert.
If that were true, wouldn’t this be even worse?
Re: Re: Re:2 What are you getting at?
Your’s is a confusing comment. You seem to be advocating for the grant of a specific trademark registration, while in the same breath suggesting that such grants stifle speech. Perhaps it is the words you have chosen that do not accurately reflect a more subtle didtinction you are making.
Re: Re: Re:3 What are you getting at?
Seems to be irrelevant since below comments indicate that Beam Suntory is claiming a trademark, but I can rephrase.
Techdirt is making the argument that BS is abusing its trademark by slapping down another company’s unrelated trademark.
Your assertion, as far as I could see, was that BS didn’t have "Connemara" trademarked.
In my mind, that situation would be even more infurating. Imagine if Bethesda had gone after Notch over "Scrolls" and halfway through the suite it came out that Bethesda didn’t even own a trademark for "The Elder Scrolls?" That certainly would not be a point in Bethesda’s favor.
If BS actually were intimidating a company over a trademark they didn’t even own, then their name would be even more appropriate than it already is.
Re: Re: Re: Re:
So basically, the big company failed to get the trademark they sought, but are attempting to oppose someone else’s perfectly valid mark anyway?
Re: Re: Re:2 Re:
No, they appear to have a community trademark “A community trademark or CTM is a cost effective route to obtain European trademark protection. It is a single registration that covers all 27 European Union Member States” – https://www.albright-ip.co.uk/2013/05/what-is-a-community-trademark-ctm/
Re: Re: Re: Re:
The Irish Times says that Beam Suntory (BS) claims to have a "community trademark" and that "its own label has ‘established goodwill and recognition’ and is used extensively in the State and internationally."
I’m not sure it really matters how legitimate the argument is, just that Cooley Distillery/Beam Suntory is willing to spend the money to pursue it. As long as a big guy’s claim intimidates a little guy today, it doesn’t matter if it’s connemara.
Re: Re: Re:2 Re:
Basically, we’re bigger and we have more money so we deserve the claim. That’s pretty much the gist of it.
Just add water and spice it up with extra BS and local drama to your taste.
Connemara Craft beers
We already have a range of Connemara beers available for the last few years. Connemara Pale Ale, Connemara Gold Ale etc
Connemara Craft beers
oops more info on independentbrewing.ie