Yes! More beer infringements! Kalamazoo’s Bell’s Brewery is the latest brewer to file a lawsuit over trademark infringement. The brewery is taking legal action against Innovation Brewing of Sylva, North Carolina over Innovation’s name.
Kalamazoo’s have argued that Innovation’s name could be confused with Bell’s unregistered advertising slogan “bottling innovation since 1985.” North Carolina’s Innovation Brewing was founded in 2013.
“We didn’t see any confusion” with Bell’s, Innovation partner Nicole Dexter states. “We were pretty confident it could be worked out.” Bell’s founder Larry Bell chose not to discuss the issue in public.
It could prove a difficult case to argue trademark infringement over a descriptive word like “innovation”. Maybe Goliath (Bell’s) thinks David (Innovation Brewing) will give up without a fight.
© photo Bell’s Brewery Facebook