Brewing Better Decisions with Trademarks
Brewery: A place we go not only to try the latest craft beer styles, but to gather with friends and family to pour into our local businesses. The year 2019 found almost 7,500 active breweries in the United States, an increase of over 1,000 from the prior year. According to the Alcohol & Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, there are yet another 3,000 in the planning phase. With the influx of new names for breweries and for beers being put on tap comes an increased risk of trademark infringement on those names.
For purveyors of local brews everywhere, here are a few clear action items that will help protect your brand.
MAKE A TRADEMARKED NAME FOR YOURSELF
With the explosion of breweries and the daily launch of new craft beers, brewers need to select distinctive brands that stand apart from the crowd. To survive in this crowded field, it is essential to pick a strong, legally protectable trademark. Selecting a strong trademark from the onset could mean the difference between spending a few thousand dollars upfront on trademark clearance or a few hundred-thousand dollars on litigation.
To avoid becoming a defendant in a trademark infringement lawsuit and to ensure the success of your brand, conducting a trademark search early on will determine whether your brand is available for your use and registration. The time to conduct that search is before you launch your brand and invest substantially in marketing efforts. (We can help with that, by the way. Drop us a line.)
PROTECT YOUR BREWERY NAME, THEN YOUR BREWS
Where do you focus your efforts in an industry with seasonal offerings and ever-changing styles? Focus on the brewery name first, often referred to as your house mark, followed by the staple brews. If your business plan does not include trademarking beer names that will only be around for a limited time, shift your sights to those around for the long haul (e.g., Sweetwater’s 420 IPA, Orpheus’ Atalanta, Second Self’s Thai Wheat). Doing so offers protection to the most valuable portions of your intellectual property.
ADAPT & ENGAGE YOUR BREWERY’S COMMUNITY DURING COVID-19
As an Atlanta-based home-brewer and a bartender at a local brewery, I am particularly sensitive to the perilous state of the craft beer industry during this pandemic. In March and April alone, multiple regional and national brewing competitions have postponed their events, or in the case of the National Homebrew Competition, have cancelled the competition entirely. Add that to the loss of income for thousands of part-time and even some full-time employees through closures, furloughs, and layoffs, and it’s easy to see how the pandemic has left this and other service industries reeling.
Despite these issues, the craft brewing industry is extremely resilient. Many breweries have been able to find investors and backers by being able to show obvious quality in the beer they make. At a time when brewery doors are closed to the public, distribution methods not previously prioritized are stepping up as the main revenue streams. Curbside pickup, online delivery and to-go beers are not only keeping breweries afloat in this pandemic environment, but they’re also supporting consumer needs. Check out below how a couple of local breweries and one smack dab in the middle of the epidemic in New York are adapting and supporting their communities.
Dry County Brewing Co. (Kennesaw, Georgia) temporarily halted production of their popular vodka-based drink line to shift to hand sanitizer production when consumers struggled to find it on their local retailer’s shelves. Not only did they produce hand sanitizer, but the brewery also distributed it in their local community free of charge.
Second Self (West Midtown Atlanta, Georgia) partnered with a local Girl Scout troupe to develop the “Survivor Kit” – a combination of Girl Scout cookie boxes, 6-packs of Second Self beer, and the highly-coveted roll of toilet paper. Customers can purchase the Survivor Kit online and enjoy curbside pickup to maintain their physical distance.
Other Half Brewing (Brooklyn, New York) has taken their collaboration efforts to a global scale. They’ve teamed up with Stout Collective, Blue Label Packaging Co., and Craftpeak to create a global beer collaboration designed to support hospitality workers being affected by the pandemic. Other Half and their partners have created a recipe, artwork, and label-making (at cost) process to allow other breweries to brew All Together, a hazy, New England IPA.
Photo by Evan Dvorkin on Unsplash