Hansen Beverage Company manufactures and distributes the famous MONSTER ENERGY® line of energy drinks and owns trademark registrations for the famous marks in the U.S. and throughout the world for beverages, branded apparel and other products.
Over the last eight years, Hansen Beverage Company has spent many millions of dollars promoting and establishing awareness for these trademarks around the world and has additionally spent millions of dollars registering and protecting these trademarks which are the Company’s single most valuable asset.
In July 2009, it came to the attention of Hansen Beverage Company that Rock Art Brewery, LLC had filed an application to register a federal trademark throughout the United States in connection with Rock Art’s Vermonster beer product.
In order to protect Hansen’s valuable Monster Energy® trademarks, Hansen is legally obliged to, and routinely sends, “cease and desist” letters to, and where appropriate, pursues litigation against, entities and persons who use or attempt to register similar trademarks for products that are similar or related to Monster Energy® products. A “cease and desist” letter was sent to Rock Art Brewery on September 4, 2009.
Hansen is a publicly traded company with an obligation to its shareholders to vigorously defend its valuable trademarks and intellectual property rights against dilution, potential infringement or confusion. Opposing the same or similar trademark applications is standard protocol for Hansen Beverage Company, as it is for all other consumer product companies.
Hansen has not, and does not, target or single out one company over any other, nor distinguish between big or small companies or individuals when enforcing our trademarks. The size of the third party misappropriating or infringing the Hansen’s trademark rights is irrelevant.
Hansen management has been working with Rock Art Brewery toward an amicable solution.
As part of prudent business practice, Hansen Beverage Company will continue to take appropriate action to protect its trademark rights and property.
I poop in Hansen Beverage Company’s general direction.
Whatever. Amicable solution also means something bad for Rock Art. These guys have less than 10 people working there. Monster Energy could probably, no surely, come up with a figure to buy out the whole brewery and be in the the beer business tomorrow. I hope until they own the brewery, that no one ever buys Monster Energy anything, including their fought after apparel trademarks that no one knows about.
An amicable solution would be to leave Rock Art alone because Vermonster has nothing to do with their shitty energy drink and nobody thinks it does.
Seems like a frivolous legal argument on Hansen’s part. (a) There isn’t likelihood of confusion, and (b) the marks pertain to different goods (energy drinks vs. beer). For their sake and Rock Art’s, they should just admit they’re wrong and move on.
Why didn’t they go after Brooklyn that has been making Monster Ale since the early 90s? (Well before Monster Energy Drink ever came out) Or how about Terrapin’s Big Hoppy Monster? There are so many beers with monster in their name. This is absolutely ridiculous.
Hell Monster Cable even tried doing this to a mini golf company before and the support the mini golf company got made Monster Cable drop suit. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monster_cable#Monster_Mini_Golf
My guess is that they are trying to eradicate any new Monster trademarks in beer so that they are all set when they decide to enter the market and create new trademarks of their own.
They couldn’t have foreseen this kind of backlash though.
What’s completely ridiculous here is Hansen’s reasoning. Their original application very specifically said that “Monster” was for NON-ALCOHOLIC drinks, but now they “want to get into beer.” Tough luck, that’s not what the wording says. I hope that Rock Art gets a judge that throws Hansen’s under the bus.
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a stupid frivolous and just plain mean “cease and desist” that to a small family company is the same as a “lawsuit”.
and yes, i am intelligent enough (despite what Monster seems to think of its drinking masses of which i am not one of them) to know the difference between an energy drink and beer. most importantly, they are totally different and have nothing to do with each other.
another notch in the “why corporate america sucks” belt goes down in history.
http://beerambassador.blogspot.com/2009/10/tired-of-corporate-america.html
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Hansen is going to have to row back from this one.
http://www.brandrants.com/2009/10/boycott-monster-energy-drink.html