Thunder Road wins Pacific Ale case vs Stone & Wood

[crowmanz]

http://www.brewsnews.com.au/2016/07/breaking-thunder-road-wins-pacific-ale-case/

 

[welly2]

Not an unreasonable ruling, I think.

 

[Liam_snorkel]

pity that the similarities between the two beers wasn't mentioned.

 

[Matplat]

Not sure about that one,

If a bar is only serving the the thunder road offering, a consumer might think "well, I like the stone&wood version so I'll try this one". Thunder road has then gained from the 'ground work' laid by stone&wood...

However if they haven't trademarked the term, then really they just have to suck it up....

 

[technobabble66]

The yanks have brewed pacific ales for a while on the west coast, I believe. White Labs or Wyeast even have a Pacific Ale yeast.
I agree with your point - S&W have pretty much defined the style here - but it's pretty hard to successfully push a law suit claiming exclusivity when it's been in the U.S. for a few years.

S&W would've been better pushing the idea "they defined the style" in the market rather than a court of law.

 

[Liam_snorkel]

this is their only related registered trademark since 2010:



also in the trademark they didn't specifically protect the word 'pacific'. Only 'ale', 'bay' 'handcrafted' 'stone'.

they then lodged to trademark the words "pacific ale" in 2013, and it was accepted in 2015 but not protected because TR lodged their (more robust) trademark claim in 2014.

S&W's mistake was not trademarking "pacific ale" more strongly from the start.

so, jokes on them. as others have mentioned, TR can leapfrog on the groundwork done by S&W

 

[Yob]

The yanks have brewed pacific ales for a while on the west coast, I believe. White Labs or Wyeast even have a Pacific Ale yeast.
I agree with your point - S&W have pretty much defined the style here - but it's pretty hard to successfully push a law suit claiming exclusivity when it's been in the U.S. for a few years.

S&W would've been better pushing the idea "they defined the style" in the market rather than a court of law.

"In a decision handed down at 9.30am today, Justice Mark Moshinsky concluded that ‘Pacific Ale’ is not a ‘style’ of beer in the technical sense of a style identified in style guides used in beer competitions."

• ​and neither are those ficking annoying session/small/bantam/whatthefuckever less than %6 ******* IPA's....

"Thunder Road also succeeded in its cross-claim against Stone & Wood, ruling that Stone & Wood made groundless threats to bring legal proceedings for trade mark infringement.
Any damages to be awarded for loss to Thunder Road flowing from these threats will be dealt with at a later hearing.
Justice Moshinsky ordered Stone & Wood to pay Thunder Road’s costs."

• Ha! suck **** SnW

 

[Liam_snorkel]

Smart business from TR.

 

[mstrelan]

FWIW, Green Flash apparently trademarked the name "West Coast IPA" and other breweries are only allowed to call their beers "West Coast Style IPA".

 

[Liam_snorkel]

here's the judgement, if anyone wants a read:

http://www.judgments.fedcourt.gov.au/judgments/Judgments/fca/single/2016/2016fca0820