Stone Brewing Is Very Upset That People Don't Like Its Trademark Bullying
from the stone-cold dept
It was just days ago that we were discussing Stone Brewing’s new campaign to jealously protect all uses of the word “stone” on alcohol branding. The one time advocate brewer claiming to stand up for craft brewing against “Big Beer” has since devolved into a corporate gorilla smashing up the USPTO to get trademarks cancelled and firing off cease and desist notices to small breweries. All this, mind you, as it also wages war on a second front with MillerCoors over Keystone’s rebranding as simply “Stone”. In that suit, MillerCoors complained that lots of breweries use the word “stone”, which appears to have set Stone Brewing off on its bout of aggression.
When Sawstone Brewing pushed back on a C&D and failed to work out an agreement with Stone Brewing, the latter initiated an attempt to cancel the former’s trademark. Sawstone complained publicly. And now Stone Brewing is busy complaining that the public is being mean to it as a result.
Stone Brewing published a lengthy statement on its website Monday night regarding its trademark dispute with Sawstone Brewing Co. in Morehead, Ky., saying that Stone has become the “subject of a vicious online harassment and smear campaign.”
In a newly published statement, Greg Koch, the CEO of Stone Brewing, acknowledged the company’s multiple trademark disputes, noting that “this kind of thing is just part of owning a brand name and a company identity,” but he claimed that Sawstone’s version of events is not how the situation unfolded.
We’ll get into that last bit in a second, but its worth pointing out that Koch’s claim that this is all somehow necessary due to owning a brand name is demonstrably false. MillerCoors itself argued against this, admittedly disingenuously. After all, while I think I’d argue that turning Keystone to Stone probably is too close to Stone Brewing so as to cause confusion, MillerCoors’ claim that lots of other breweries have used the word “stone” within their brands for a long, long time is absolutely true. And if Stone Brewing not only survived, but thrived, with all those other uses in existence, it negates completely the claim that Stone Brewing had no choice but to act as it has. Were that true, Stone Brewing wouldn’t be the behemoth it now is.
Now, on to Koch’s claim that Sawstone Brewing’s description of events wasn’t accurate… it’s all in the petty details. Essentially, Koch claims that this all started when Sawstone Brewing attempted to trademark its name and that Stone Brewing tried to amicably work out a settlement of the trademark issues over the course of a few months. In addition, Sawstone missed a couple of deadlines for which it had promised settlement proposals. And… that’s it.
All of which completely misses the point. Stone Brewing didn’t have to take this action at all. And while the reported claims of online stalking and threats sent to Stone Brewing are reprehensible if true, a public backlash to bullying behavior by a brewer that was supposed to be standing up to these types of corporate actions is perfectly valid. If Stone Brewing doesn’t like that version of the backlash, it can cease playing the bully. Unfortunately…
As for the trademark dispute, Koch said that Stone will not back down and that the decision will ultimately lie with the USPTO.
Well, then enjoy the continued backlash, you Arrogant Bastards.
Filed Under: defending trademarks, dilution, stone, trademark
Companies: sawstone brewing, stone brewing
Comments on “Stone Brewing Is Very Upset That People Don't Like Its Trademark Bullying”
'Some asshole is signing your name on threat letters...'
If they don’t like people calling them mean names like ‘bully’ and ‘thug’ then there’s a really easy way to deal with that problem: Stop acting like that so those labels are no longer accurate.
I am legally obligated to state that I have nothing to do with these people.
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You know that with this post you probably just popped up on their radar, right?
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I have only a modicum of sympathy should he be targeted – Stephen is a regular contributor here, so well aware of the landscape around trademarks and the increasing battles in the drinks sector. With that advantage of background and knowledge, he should have got in first to register his name (and all variants thereof) – something, something, profit.
btw "Stones" is probably a registered mark in the UK – originally a Northern brewery, I think ended up in the InBev (or whatever they are today) portfolio.
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Stones ginger beer is still on sale here in the UK, that includes a version with enough alcohol to qualify as beer.
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4% – stronger than a session bitter. Also the traditional Stones Ginger wine at 13.5%.
On topic though – Stones Beers and Stones Ginger wine are the product of different companies (Molson Coors and Constellation respectively), and they don’t seem to have any problems co-existing. Maybe they’re not confused by consumers because of historical entrenchment, plus, the brans have been in existence a long time,
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You will be receiving a cease and desist letter post haste.
Re: just a pebble in the sand
Good one!
And we are supposed to remember that? Look, just change your name and this will all be over.
"Stone"
You need wiser lawyers.
Take charge of your business before it takes charge of you!
End of Message. Stop! ; ]
People who sell products in glass bottles shouldn’t throw stones.
If you don’t use the trademark in a product sold to the public you may lose it, after a few years, different beer have different logos, and labels on the
bottle, even if they have one word used in another beer,its very unlikely the public will be used.
Most UK beers are not sold in the USA unless they are owned by a big company , like Guinness.
Pubs in America can only stock a limited range of beers,.
Stoned Brewing
Can’t Stoned Brewing get a patent on being upset about trademark bullying?
Arrogant Bastards
Ha! I see what you did there. Well played sir.
Enjoy your money
These large bully companies like Stone brewing boggle my brain. They have lost sight of what their business was about. All they care about now is the money. I hope Stone brewing crashes and burns. I won’t be buying any of their products again. Arrogant bastards indeed.
Choices
I’d rather be an Arrogant Bastard than a Dead Guy!
Timothy, you are such a Rogue!
Co-existance Agreement
Did Stone try a co-existence agreement or are those out of fashion nowadays?
Web site access
The Stone Brewery web site has adult content I guess… too funny.
They block underage viewers. Boose porn! Hehehe.
…Stone has become the “subject of a vicious online harassment and smear campaign.”
A lot of people deciding you’re an asshole does not a "campaign" make.
There’s a Fred Flintstone here with his lawyer, insisting that his firm – the Bedrock Quarry – has prior use of the word "stone" in 4004 B.C.
Now what?
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