• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Advertise
  • About Craft Brewing Business

Craft Brewing Business

Professional Insight, Unfiltered

Craft Brewing Business Craft Brewing Business
  • News
  • Business & Marketing
  • Packaging & Distribution
  • Equipment & Systems
  • Ingredients & Supplies
  • Webinars & White Papers
  • News
  • Business & Marketing
  • Ingredients & Supplies
  • Packaging & Distribution
  • Equipment
  • Webinars & White Papers
  • COVID-19

Only in craft beer: Shmaltz Brewing sued over a ‘menage a trois’ misunderstanding

December 8, 2016Chris Crowell

craft beer trademarks

Trademark dustups happen from time to time within the craft beer industry. Some of them get contentious, but the majority of them seem to get cleared up fairly amicably. At worst it seems one brewery wastes money in legal fees and is dragged kicking and screaming to change a name it doesn’t want to change.

As Reuters reported, Shmaltz Brewing Co. has learned to steer clear of any trademark disputes with the big, bad wine industry. Shmaltz cracked the monocles of Sutter Home Winery Inc. over its MANNAge a Trois 12 pack (Shmaltz, you see, goes for funny, Jewish-themed names, and that is a killer pun). Sutter Home says the name “confusingly similar” to Menage a Trois, which it said it trademarked in 2006 (Sutter Home, you see, really likes orgies).

But that’s a wine and the other is a 12-pack. WTF?

shmaltz-trademark-dispute
Guess which one is Sutter Homes.

As silly as it may seem, this is how trademark law works. Craft breweries need to be cognizant not just of other craft beer names, but of other beverages or restaurants that could cause reasonable confusion. (We are being overly simplistic here — if you want more in-depth info on this topic, be sure to hit our archives)

Now, would a reasonable person be confused here? We are totally unreasonable people, so we aren’t to say, but Sutter Home, along with having a point and a trademark, has deep pockets. So, in a way, it doesn’t matter.

All of that is what it is, but here’s the part we find to be very unDude: The lawsuit seeks triple and punitive damages, and a name change. Geesh. Don’t screw around on Sutter Home. Anyway, a reminder that whether you are naming a beer menage a trois, or merely about to join one, make sure you are protected.

 

Shmaltz Brewing — ‘the only Jewish beer company in America’ — is closing after 25 years
bock-hog
Beers to know this week show how to collaborate, innovate and commemorate
Satchel-Paige-Beer-1
Negro Leagues Celebration Beer Series featuring Satchel Paige paintings and other beers to know this week
Oregon Fruit Products logo cbb crop
Oregon Fruit Products debuts line of certified organic fruit purees

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Primary Sidebar

Latest News

  • Flying Dog Brewery wins First Amendment victory over North Carolina Alcoholic Beverage Commission
  • Negro Leagues Celebration Beer Series featuring Satchel Paige paintings and other beers to know this week
  • Separator and centrifuge expert Flottweg expands Kentucky operations
  • 2022 beer branding trends part 1: reinvention

Sign up for our newsletter

unsubscribe from list

Most Popular Today

Recent Features

  • 2022 beer branding trends part 1: reinvention
    May 17, 2022
  • satisfaction surveysAre brewery employees happy? Depends on the department
    May 16, 2022
  • Male hand closes hatch of brewery tankUnfiltered: Do I need to clean tanks between transfers?
    May 11, 2022
  • Hard seltzers: Achieve high alcohol fermentations in a clean and neutral way with the proper nutrient aids
    May 9, 2022
  • Paxton Products uses air and ionization to rinse and dry beer bottles and cans
    May 9, 2022
  • Did you miss the 2022 Craft Brewers Conference this week? Yeah? I see. Well, here’s what it looked like
    May 5, 2022

Footer

  • Email Newsletter Sign Up
  • About Craft Brewing Business
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise on Craft Brewing Business
  • Media Kit Download
  • Privacy and Terms

© 2022 · CBB Media LLC

Posting....