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 […]
Category Archives: Wine
May
11
Dissent In Texas Three-Tier Case Contains Powerful Indictment Of Strict Enforcement Of Cross-Tier Ownership
posted by Ashley Brandt
April
28
Will Lee v. Tam End The TTB’s Censorship of Beer Wine and Spirits Labels Found Obscene or Indecent?
posted by Ashley Brandt
As the US awaits a verdict in Lee v. Tam – a trademark dispute challenging a section of the trademark act (15 U.S.C. 1052(a)) refusing trademark registration for marks that are deemed immoral or scandalous, and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s implementation and application of those restrictions – it would benefit us to be […]
April
10
Arguing With the Trademark Office Over Wine? – La Finca Wine Trademark Decision Provides Interesting Lessons Regarding Acceptable Source Material
posted by Ashley Brandt
The TTAB (Trademark Trial and Appeal Board) recently affirmed the decision from the USPTO refusing to register the mark “La Finca” for wines on the basis that the vintner didn’t demonstrate that the brand had acquired distinctiveness since the translation of the term is “the estate” or “the farm” which is descriptive for wines. You […]
March
30
Online Wine Retailer Wins Case Against False Claims Assertions Over Failure to Collect Local Taxes For Sales
posted by Ashley Brandt
In a recent win for online wine retailers (not wineries selling direct), the Illinois appellate court has upheld the dismissal of an action against online wine retailer Winetasting.com alleging it violated Illinois’ False Claims Act (740 ILCS 175) in failing to collect and pay the local retailer’s occupation tax for the municipality where the wine […]
March
29
Example Agreements: Spirits Manufacturing Agreement (Licensing) – Contract Distilling With Enhanced “Flash” Aging
posted by Ashley Brandt
This recent dispute between a distiller and a company looking to contract manufacture a whiskey called Rattleback Rye has resulted in an opinion from a federal district court in South Carolina denying a motion to dismiss based on breach of contract grounds against both the company and its principals, but granting dismissal of claims for […]
March
28
Anheuser Wins Again Pursuing Claims Against Ex-Employee Associated With Alcohol Content False Advertising Suits
posted by Ashley Brandt
In case you don’t remember, back in 2013 we shed some light on a series of class action lawsuits that were filed against Anheuser (AB InBev) alleging that water was added to beer to produce an alcohol content lower than what was stated on the labels. The claims of the initial lawsuits quickly shrunk from […]
March
15
Example Agreements: Licensing Your Brand To Create Chackies For Your Distributors and Customers
posted by Ashley Brandt
People love to wear branded stuff. I accept this as a general truth. The sooner you accept is as well and offer them the chance to promote your brand for you, the sooner you’ll be getting some free advertising. They particularly like beer, spirits, and food brands (my awesome Chateauneuf Du Pape shirt notwithstanding). That […]
March
08
Use a Foreign Word In Your Beverage Name? Better Make Sure It’s English Equivalent Isn’t Already Trademarked and Vice Versa
posted by Ashley Brandt
If a = b, then b = a. In math, it’s called the “symmetric property of equality.” There’s a similar principle in trademark law called the “doctrine of equivalents.” Foreign words have protection from their english equivalents, and english words have protection from their foreign equivalents. It applies to words from “common, modern languages.” Italian […]
