Pipeworks Brewing receives cease-and-desist letter from unnamed Wisconsin brewery
Unfortunately, a brewery in Wisconsin doesn’t think we should call it [Scurvy Ninja]… although it’s a complete 1-off beer that’ll never be made again and only 50 cases or so… we understand their position but maybe they can just be cool for like a minute without the formal cease and desist letter mucking up my Friday night. Think we’ll rename it to $CURVY NINJA and call it a day and move on with our lives.
Breweries: Pipeworks Brewing
You probably should do a bit of research on the Internet before naming anything you produce.
It would have taken 10 seconds.
I’m sure you you wouldn’t want another brewery riding the coattails of any of your successful beers either.
If the name isnt known by others in the same industry, and there arent too many craftbreweries, is it that big a deal? Especially if we’re talking about a single batch. And a single phone call between Brewers would have taken far less time and energy, and far more in line with how we do things.
Compatriots not competitors remember?
Yup, really riding the coattails we are…? Tim Ryan is absolutely correct, a simple phone call or e-mail would have sufficed rather than a long-winded e-mail with patronizing undertones.
I agree that a phone call or email would have been great.
Especially if it came from the brewery that was taking the name from another.
These guys worked in a progressive beer shop for a bit, so I would assume that they would remember selling this seasonal beer.
It’s also a bit curious that they planned to release this one off beer during said beers’ seasonal release.
While I don’t think that any harm was intended at all, why take the chance in the first place?
I’m assuming Gerritt here is Pipeworks’ Gerritt? A little kindness and understanding on your part would also go a long way. They’ve sold Scurvy here longer than your company has produced beer. One-offs can become no-longer-one-offs. A phone call can convey good intentions, but produces no evidence of them seeking to protect their trademarks — another brewery could see that you successfully called something with a name similar to a Tyranena brew, and do the same themselves and argue that “Tyranena let example X go by, so what’s the problem now?”
You’re treating them poorly in public, which suggests frankly that a phone call by them _wouldn’t_ have been enough. What evidence are you giving other brewers that you’re a compatriot if you complain about the manner in which other brewers protect trademarks and brands? After this, why would they think you’re a reasonable person to deal with on the phone?
It would have been so easy to say “a brewery contacted us and asked us to change the name of X so it didn’t resemble Y. We understand and have made the change.” You’d have looked great.