Happy Oberon Day

Submitted by MGoFisticuffs on

I have the day off of work tomorrow, and therefore will be able to celebrate the opening kegs of Oberon! Going shortly tonight to take advantage of a couple places who are tapping at midnight, as well as tomorrow for a good part of the day. 

Is anyone else going to be joining the festivities? I see that there's a pub crawl in Ann Arbor tomrorow.

cozy200

March 23rd, 2015 at 8:00 AM ^

Its a trademark dispute. Very different. Also, if your morals dictate such things, get rid of your smart phone, computer and everything else made in Asia. Stop buying gas as well. Just start a garden, throw away your electronics and never worry about your morals and how they intersect with businesses. Because these things happen with brands you do business with every, single, day.

Everyone Murders

March 23rd, 2015 at 9:21 AM ^

I'm not a trademark expert, but according to the story Bando linked, Innovation Brewing filed an application for a trademark for their Brewery's name.  Bell's objected, and lawyered up to prevent Innovation Brewing from registering the mark.  Once you object to a trademark registration, it seems like the functional equivalent of a suit for infringement.

You're right that these things happen every day, and that this in and of itself doesn't make Bell's the Evil Empire.  But when you object to a competitor's use of a name that you only have a tangential attachment to (as seems to be the case with Bell's here), the lawsuit seems petulant.  It smacks of a strong-arm tactic.  (How would we feel here if UofM sued Brian for infringement because UofM claimed his banner inappropriately uses a Block M?  Sales at Ann Arbor Torch and Pitchfork would skyrocket.)

It would be different if someone set up "Oberon Brewers" or "Two-Hearted Brewers" and expected Bell's to sit idly by and watch their mark get appropriated.  These disputes operate on a scale of grays, and this one seems to be on the silly side of that scale.

cozy200

March 23rd, 2015 at 11:00 AM ^

Im sure Bells could care less what anyone wants to call themselves. But, if you had been using the word "innovation and brewing" together in a slogan for a few decades, and someone trademarked that, they would then be able to sue YOU.



At first glance it looks like Bells is acting really lame by stifling a smaller competitor. Take a deeper look and to me (not an attorney, just play one on TV) it looks like they are trying to protect their own brand and avoid possible future litigation from Innovation.

Everyone Murders

March 23rd, 2015 at 11:48 AM ^

Any claim that Innovation Brewing made on Bell's would be (IMO) absolute b.s., based on the Polaroid standards.  It causes a competitor to incur legal costs, and strikes many as vexacious.  You state that "Innovation could/would make Bell's quit using that slogan".  Under Polaroid, that's not a reasonable concern. 

And to the extent it is, it would best be handled by Innovation agreeing with Bell's that Innovation would either (i) forego any claim against Bell's for use of their slogan, or (ii) grant a perpetual license to Bell's to give them the right to use the slogan.  That's the wise course of action, especially in a generally collegial industry.

Given that the chance of brand confusion between Innovation Brewing and Bell's is miniscule, Bell's objection looks like a dick move.  Which is not hard to understand.

 

Everyone Murders

March 23rd, 2015 at 8:15 AM ^

I'm not a trademark expert by any stretch, but suing "Innovation Brewing" on the basis that its name could be confused with Bell's unregistered "bottling innovation since 1985" seems extremely petulant.  It doesn't seem likely anyone is going to look at a bottle of Innovation Brewing beer and say "dag, I thought this was Bell's!".  It seems to fail nearly all of the Polaroid v. Polarod Elecs. factors (seminal case on this issue), except similarity of product.  (Beer is ... beer.)  Especially given that the microbrew consuming public is extremely sophisticated about this stuff - nobody's going to actually be confused by this.

I like a lot of Bell's beers and recognize Larry Bell's been an innovator (hah!) and an icon in the industry, but holy tap-dancing Jebus, this lawsuit looks oppressive.  Apart from "Larry Bell being Larry Bell" - which may be an unfair shot at Bell - Bando's post seems spot-on.

Mmmm Hmmm

March 23rd, 2015 at 8:31 AM ^

I think the point is so Innovation Brewing doesn't turn around and sue Bells. Also, as one of the many articles on this noted, Bells' standard operating procedure is to agree with other breweries to mutually not enforce certain trademarks in each others' primary markets. Seems quite reasonable to me.




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Everyone Murders

March 23rd, 2015 at 10:15 AM ^

But from the story (which I'm not sure all posting on this topic have read) it seems that Innovation Brewing tried to work things out with Bell's.  That would presumably include a non-enforcement pact, and is easily done assuming both parties are reasonable.  But instead (according to the story) Bell's lawyered up and objected to the trademark - circumventing the process you describe, imposing legal costs on a very small brewery, and bringing their registration process to a halt.

I'm guessing that's why Bell's is taking heat on this issue.  What looks bad to me is that under the Polaroid case it doesn't seem like Innovation Brewing would be able to claim infringement anyway for the reasons I post elsewhere on this thread.

Everyone Murders

March 23rd, 2015 at 11:52 AM ^

When I linked on that article, there was no indication of a hold-up attempt on the part of Innovation.  If Innovation truly did that, it was a dick move on Innovation's part.  And a stupid one, because you would never expect Bell's to roll over on that.

But apart from some chatter on this here board, I've not seen a source for that.  If that's what's going on, I feel better about the six pack of Two-Hearted in my fridge.

Solsun

March 23rd, 2015 at 1:52 PM ^

They phrase it a bit differently, but from Innovation's own facebook page:

"In the early days of this dispute, when we were asked what our brand was worth, we told them a lot."

https://www.facebook.com/innovationbrewing/posts/457725307718840

Bell's has a long history of working out similar issues with other breweries, including when they were the little guy.  I find it hard to believe they've suddenly decided that intentionally being dicks would work out better for them.

UNCWolverine

March 23rd, 2015 at 11:04 AM ^

Yeah, two sides to every story. And of course everyone loves the underdog story. This has been going on for a while now, Bell's has been trying to work with them for almost a year on this and it only became big news when a local NC paper ran a story recently.

Bell's is not asking them to change their brewery name, just withdraw their trademark applicaion. Bell's has been using this slogan on their trucks for years. As a small business owner that has been trying to grow our brand I certainly understand why Bell's is trying to protect the brand that they've spent years and tons of money trying to grow themselves.

When you file a trademark part of the process is to allow the public to object if there are any potential conflicts. If there was such a compnay as Innovation skincare I don't think they would have an issue with Innovation Brewery. But for a brewery that has used Bottling Innovation as a slogan for years to have an issue with another brewery named Innovation Brewery, that's not so far-fetched.

I'm not saying Bell's is 100% in the right on this. But I know for a fact that Innovation Brewery decided last year to not work with Bell's nicely on this, rather they wanted a lot of money to reconsider their trademark application which turned the entire situation into a complete mess. They will mediate this later this summer and hopefully come to an amicable decision.

CoachBP6

March 22nd, 2015 at 10:57 PM ^

Never tried it. What's the profile? While I have tried many, many spirits, I've hardly ever went outside my beer comfort zone. If I'm drinking to get drunk I'm going rolling rock. If I'm drinking for taste I enjoy Belgian whites or a smooth IPA. If I'm trying to catch a happy hour buzz I go with dogfish 90-120 minute. Would I like Oberon?

Yostbound and Down

March 22nd, 2015 at 11:07 PM ^

Beer Advocate link if it floats your boat.

American Wheat Ale. Think of Blue Moon as the destitute man's Oberon. The orange is a nice touch to add to it. It's very drinkable but has some good flavor.

I really enjoy it. No sixer I'd rather have if I'm up north on the shores of Lake Michigan with my butt in the sand. I like some of Bell's other beers more, but Oberon is Old Faithful in my book.

coldnjl

March 23rd, 2015 at 10:25 AM ^

People generally don't go straight to DIPA or heavy scotch Ales due to strong flavors, which IMO are more acquired tastes. When I started drinking craft beer, I couldn't drink Two Hearted due to the Hops but I could easily do Oberon. Now, I love Two Hearted and don't really enjoy Oberon.

ijohnb

March 23rd, 2015 at 11:19 AM ^

That is good.  Establsihed veteran, 15 years of heavy drinking under his belt.

Yeah, I guess I see what you mean.  I don't really think that makes it a lesser beer though.  I am an "experienced" drinker and I really like Oberon but think that Two Hearted and IPAs just taste bad and make me really thirsty, sleepy and will make me forego the delicous burgers that I just made because I am so full from this beer that I basically have to use a spoon to consume. 

Oberon on the other hand, it just makes everything better.

gopoohgo

March 23rd, 2015 at 8:03 AM ^

120 is still like Kaiser Soze...appears briefly and then is gone. Dogfish had a pretty up to date beer finder on their website. Best bet is to find 120 on tap; Goes for $30 a 4-pack at the DogfishHead Brew-Pub kiosk in Rehoboth Beach, DE; $40-$60 in stores when available. 

TheRonimal

March 22nd, 2015 at 11:13 PM ^

Oberon is the first beer I ever had that wasn't of the cheap variety (pbr,bud light, etc) and I always love it as the mark of summer. Its also my bday tomorrow so ill have to have some obviously. Cheers my friends