Moosehead Still At It: Sues Hop 'N Moose Brewing For Trademark Infringement
from the just-stop dept
Despite all of the coverage we provide on alcohol-related trademark disputes, Moosehead Breweries has still managed to separate itself from the pack with its aggressive trademark enforcement behavior. You should recall that this is the brewery that sued a root beer company called Moose Whiz and a brewery making a beer called Müs Knuckle under the theory that because it somehow got a trademark on the term "moose" it therefore means that any beverage company using that word is infringing its trademark. That's not correct on multiple fronts, including the question of whether any customers are actually or potentially being confused by the so-called infringing uses. Add to that the somewhat strange circumstance of Canada's CIPO approving a heritage word like "moose" in the Canadian market.
Well, Moosehead is still at it, this time suing a brewery called Hop 'N Moose over that same trademark.
Moosehead Breweries Limited, based in Saint John, New Brunswick, sued the Hop’n Moose Brewing Co. last week in federal court in Vermont, alleging trademark infringement. The Canadian firm alleges that the moose image the downtown Rutland brewpub uses is too similar to the moose head with antlers the larger company uses in its logos and branding materials.
The lawsuit asks for a jury trial and wants Hop’n Moose ordered to hand over any profits it has made while using the moose image. It also wants the Rutland company to stop using the image and to “deliver up and/or destroy” all trademark infringing products. The filing also demands that Hop’n Moose stop using the domain address for its website, hopnmoose.com.
Here again we see Moosehead wielding a fairly generic term like a trademark cudgel. I have to admit being a little surprised that the filing goes in as hard as it does on the actual trade dress of both brands. In past trademark suits, Moosehead has thought it enough to show up with its "moose" trademark and assume that was enough. Here they are going after the image of moose in both companies' logos, claiming that they will cause confusion. Here are both logos.
Sure, you might say there are some similarities there, but only because both show an image of a moose. One is just the head of the moose, hence the beer named "moosehead", where the other is the silhouette of a full moose. It should be noted that Moosehead does have a trademark on a version of its moose head image that is a silhouette, except that I can't find it being used anywhere. Even if the brewery does use that image, it is certainly not the image or logo that the public associates with Moosehead beer.
And that's the ultimate point here. The rest of the trade dress is, again, different enough to stave off any real customer confusion. In addition, the company names are different enough, and prominently displayed in both cases, to keep customers from being confused. It's a wonder why Moosehead keeps going down this road, but I suppose bullies are going to bully.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: moose, trademark
Companies: hop 'n moose, moosehead
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
I'm confused
Mankind named the species, likely long before the concept of species existed, and since corporations are people, and not moose, we believe that their use of our name to be both frivolous and demeaning. Either let the concept of moose be free, or stop it altogether.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: I'm confused
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: I'm confused
Not to worry, you're talking about supernatural rites.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
both are beer
oblitagory xkcd:
https://xkcd.com/1210/
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: both are beer
6AMQTRN39U
...No, some company would still find a reason to sue because it looks like their business number or something.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Sue all the meese, for they all infringe on your stupid trademark!
https://www.google.com/search?q=moose&tbm=isch
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
Who drinks their "beer" anyway? Yech...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Names of animals or people
Or maybe all those that have been sued should get together and sue as one entity to save money suing together and have the copyright cancelled, when a business has to go after a company that is completely different in every way or even when it is so obvious they are different then the full copyright should be cancelled.
And having multiple companies with similar names showing that they do not mind others using the word moose should show any court that a copyright is not acceptable especially for the name of the countries national animal.
I would love to see a story where moosehead goes bankrupt after having to pay back millions they have already spent.
I built trailers and call them Gecko trailers and had a lawyers contact me. luckily I could point out that many companies have been using the name for decades longer than there copyright demands. I listed a few dozen worldwide and they did not contact me again not even to withdraw the threat of suing me.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Names of animals or people
NOTE: My cousin already named his lumber and supply business Billie Joe Johnson and Son, LLC. Apparently there is a difference between selling wood and the stuff that gives you a woodie.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
this is absurd.....
[ link to this | view in chronology ]