Dive Brief:
- Sazerac Co., the distillery behind Fireball Cinnamon Whisky, is suing North Carolina brewery Stout Brewing Company for trademark infringement over Stout's malt liquor brand, Fire Flask.
- Fire Flask's packaging "features a 'similar' horned demon figure on its label, the lawsuit claims, and also uses the same colour scheme and red bottle caps," according to The Spirits Business.
- Sazerac claims that the name and packaging are "confusingly similar" and that Fire Flask was meant to "trade on the longstanding goodwill" of Fireball, the lawsuit said.
Dive Insight:
This is yet another case of a trademark infringement lawsuit for a spirits company recently. Last week, Diageo came out with its own lawsuit against Captain Amsterdam for trademark infringement of the Captain Morgan brand. Last year, Diageo similarly sued Admiral Nelson rum, owned by Heaven Hill Distilleries, over the Captain Morgan trademark as well.
In 2012, Sazerac also filed a similar lawsuit against Hood River Distillers for infringing on the trademark of Fireball due to the packaging and branding of Hood River's SinFire Cinnamon Whiskey brand.