Another craft brewer is in Anheuser-Busch’s legal sights. The largest brewery in the United States may soon challenge a trademark attempt by Left Hand Brewing.
Left Hand was the first U.S. based brewery to launch a nitrogen based, bottled beer. (You’ve seen Guinness cans and bottles before.) It took brewery founder Eric Wallace a good chunk of change to develop the technology. Left Hand Nitro Milk Stout debuted at the Great American Beer Festival in 2011.
Left Hand has applied for a trademark for NITRO as it pertains to a beer name. This trademark of course doesn’t prevent any brewery from creating nitro beers, just using similar name branding.
AB InBev has received an extension in regards to the trademark, and have until June, 2014 to decide to challenge.
Nit-ro-rita
Cumberland Brews in Louisville has the well-crafted Nitro Porter that has comments in BA going back to 2004. I guess Trademark will have to carve KY out of the mark. BA has an additional 86 beers with Nitro in the name…
You should study up on the differences between what Cumberland has to offer and what Left Hand has done; there are plenty of breweries that have had nitro brews dating back before 2004, but none have done what Left Hand has accomplished.
Creating a nitro system for bottles and protecting that would be patenting. Common law trademark rights arise on first use within a product category or geographic market. Cheers!