(Boston, MA) – The DC Brew Law blog had some interesting comments on a recent story regarding Boston Beer Co.’s trademark filing for New Albion Brewing Company Ale. Your editor took the company’s comments that it is ‘just preserving history’ at face value though Christopherson offers some different insight:

The problem with this statement is that “preserving history” is not a valid basis under which to file a trademark application. Instead, Boston Beer’s application was filed as a 1B (intent-to-use) application. According to TMEP §1101, in order to file an intent-to-use application, an applicant must provide “[a] verified statement of the applicant’s bona-fide intention to use the mark in commerce . . . .”

It seems that Boston Beer’s comments and the verified statement they filed with the application might be seen as inconsistent. This is a good example of the importance of making sure a company’s legal department reviews the public statements of its organization before they are released.

The USPTO can grant Boston Beer Company multiple extensions for a statement showing bonafide commercial use all the way through 2014. Does that mean that we will see some kind of New Albion redux from Boston Beer Co. or its subsidiary incubator, Alchemy and Science, down the road? Maybe. Though the company may have no current plans to use the ‘New Albion’ brand, it has a lot of time to figure that out. It may eventually have to do just that to register the mark.

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Christopherson, sole partner in the Christopherson Intellectual Property Law Firm, is BeerPulse’s newest contributor. His first guest post for BeerPulse will come later today.