Trademark disputes involving breweries are nothing new, with breweries battling each other, wineries, and even cities over trademarks. We can now add estates of dead celebrities to the mix, as the Estate of Elvis Presley continues its battle against UK-based BrewDog over its ELVIS JUICE I.P.A.
The Elvis Estate first attempted to resolve the dispute through a cease and desist letter. In response, BrewDog’s owners, James Watt and Martin Dickie, changed their first names to “Elvis.”
And before you ask, yes, the above picture is just a marketing version of the official name change document. Although the battle has been waged for decades with the U.K. Employment Agency, “Beer Pirate” is not yet an officially recognized title. For the potential Elvis fans with the proclivity toward belief in aliens and other conspiracies, the official documents are also available here.
When BrewDog failed to heed the Estate’s demand of “Don’t,” the Estate brought an action against BrewDog at the U.K. Intellectual Property Office. Apparently the UKIPO was unmoved by the Elvis Brothers’ claims and, in July of 2017, the Estate prevailed. But before Elvis could leave the building, BrewDog appealed. Apparently the appellate body had a few more suspicious minds. Just last week, the appellate body reversed the prior decision, concluding:
On balance I do not think that the hearing officer was entitled to take judicial notice that beer consumers who see the word Elvis will always think of Elvis Presley. The two marks are too different for there to be direct confusion. Even with imperfect recollection the average consumer will not mistake Brewdog Elvis Juice for Elvis. Put simply, the common element of Elvis is not enough on its own to make consumers think there is a link between the mark Elvis and Brewdog Elvis Juice.
As the quote suggests, the UKIPO’s decision was based specifically on a trademark that includes the brewery’s house brand BREWDOG. This may mean some extra steps for the brewery to ensure that BREWDOG always appears in close proximity to the ELVIS JUICE trademark, but the steps may be worth it to protect BrewDog’s growing investment in the name. BrewDog recently expanded operations, opening a satellite brewery in the United States near Columbus, Ohio. On top of that, BrewDog even won a bronze medal in its first appearance at the Great American Beer Festival last year.
Although the Elvis Estate may be licking its wounds somewhere in the heartbreak hotel, the war isn’t over yet. As you might expect, the UKIPO’s office has no authority here in the U.S. In fact, BrewDog has a pending application for the mark BREWDOG ELVIS JUICE that was approved for registration by the U.S. Trademark Office. On December 27, the company that manages the intellectual property on behalf of the Elvis Estate filed a Request for Extension of Time to Oppose the application. Will the recent loss temper the Estate’s position? Or is it now or never for the Elvis Estate to make a stand? We might have a better idea after April 25, when the Estate’s first extension request runs out.
As of the date of publication, there is no word on whether Elvis Costello also objects to BrewDog’s beer.