Food and Beverage Law Updates from Alcoholic Beverage and Food Law Advocates
The Governor of Wisconsin has a partial veto power that comes from the state constitution which allows for striking portions of bills to create entirely new (and even contrary) legislation from a bill that’s presented. (Wisconsin Cons. Article V, Section 10). Apparently this power was used to such effect that in 1990 the State Constitution […]
Goose Island recently scored a win in Federal District Court Massachusetts where it achieved the dismissal of a class action brought by two Bourbon County Brand Stout purchasers who bought BCBS and variants from the 2015 year that was part of the bad batch fiasco for which Goose Island instituted a refund program. Those looking […]
House Bill 4897 hasn’t been signed by the governor yet but it’s on its way. This bill passed both the Illinois House and the Illinois Senate with no nay votes and no abstentions. Once signed the bill will add several new rights for craft breweries in the state of Illinois that bring the state closer […]
The recent kerfuffle between Knee Deep Brewing Co., and Sony Pictures Television over Knee Deep’s use of Breaking Bad (trademarked by Sony) iconography and imagery for their Breaking Bud IPA provides an opportunity for a good reminder about the defense of parody to trademark infringement. When done right, this time-honored, and statutorily codified defense to […]
At yesterday’s Illinois Liquor Control Commission board meeting, the director said that in addition to discussing federal trade practice rules and some issues concerning the ongoing investigations that the entities are engaging in, the upcoming June 13 learning sessions hosted by the TTB in Chicago regarding trade practices would be jointly hosted by the ILCC and […]
This is a big deal in brewing. Not just for Star Wars themed beers, but also the thousands of derivative names and label art that are a tribute to some brewery’s favorite thing. As evidenced by this recent opposition filed by Warner Bros., in Southern Sky Brewing’s trademark application for the “Golden Ticket” for beer […]
In early 2015, Wine Spectator questioned how serious the Chinese government was at addressing the problem of counterfeit wines and pointed to Alibaba’s site as a major culprit in promoting the sale of counterfeit bottles. A clever solution implemented by producers and brokers back then was the award of exclusive distribution rights within the country. […]
Apparently amateur chemistry isn’t for everyone. Especially not the thousands of mixologists and bartenders across the world who’ve been recommending and serving Moscow Mules in mugs with copper interior coming into contact with the acidic drink. Potentially poisoning drinkers in trendy restaurants from Portland to … Portland. The Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Commission recently reminded everyone […]
Some bad news for Atwater in its quest to trademark “Vanilla Java Porter” is good news for those hoping ingredients and styles and variants don’t end up receiving registration forcing breweries to have to challenge registrations to get them undone in order to use common terms in their labeling. You’re correct if you think this […]
You might not believe it unless you look like this: But Indiana’s current bar against beer wholesalers selling liquor or liquor wholesalers selling beer was just held constitutional because the state claims its “rational basis” was the increase of pricing to stem alcohol consumption. In Monarch Beverage Co., Inc. v. David Cook et al., Monarch […]
It’s a fairly typical clause in most distribution agreements, if not specifically stated in most state beer franchise laws – a promise that your distributor won’t transfer the franchise or the business (you want both and you’ll see why in a second) absent the brewer’s consent (which will not be “unreasonably” withheld). The 6th Circuit […]
Come on out to the Illinois Craft Brewer’s Conference on June 26th and 27th for two great days of education and information on brewing and related issues. I’ll be presenting with a great group of other experts on topics of interest. http://illinoisbeer.org/conference
As you all probably have heard, in Cadena Commercial v. Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, the Texas Supreme Court recently weighed in on the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission’s decision to deny a license for retail sales to a group of convenience stores that wanted to sell alcohol because through a chain of ownership, one of the […]
