Montana craft brewery suing Anheuser-Busch

Hold my beer and check out this lawsuit from Big Sky Brewing

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: A small brewery and a large brewery are engaged in a trademark dispute. Hopefully, you didn’t stop me because here is the twist: The small brewery is suing the large brewer this time.

The small brewery is Big Sky Brewing out of Montana; the big brewery is Anheuser-Busch.  According to NBC Montana, Big Sky is suing  the large international brewing conglomerate over what it deems to be an infringement on its “Hold my beer and watch this” marketing campaign.

From NBC Montana:

 In federal court documents Big Sky Brewing says Anheuser-Busch released three Youtube videos on Dec. 1, 2013 with actor John Krasinski centered around the phrase “hold my beer and watch this”.

Big Sky says it has used the phrase since 2004 and held the trademark since Sept. 8, 2009. The phrase is featured on cans of Big Sky beers.

What do you think? Open and shut case? This is where we link to our feature last year on trademark law for a quick refresher.

The company is seeking an undisclosed amount in damages.