Dive Brief:
- Budweiser has long been known as the "King of Beers," but now that "The Queen of Beer" may be entering the scene, Anheuser-Busch InBev isn't too comfortable with it.
- California craft brewery She Beverage Co. applied to register "The Queen of Beer" phrase with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in December, and the brewery's products hit store shelves and restaurants in April.
- AB InBev argues that "Queen of Beer" is too similar to "King of Beers," and consumers may incorrectly assume that She Beverage's products are made by AB InBev. AB InBev has filed an opposition to the trademark.
Dive Insight:
Whether AB InBev has a case is up to trademark regulators, but in the past, the patent office's Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ruled against another company that went after the trademark "Queen of Beers." "A-B cited the appeal board’s 2000 decision in which the body ruled that the dictionary definitions of 'king' and 'queen' showed that two terms were highly similar in connotation and meaning," St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
She Beverage co-owner Lupe Rose expressed surprise by AB InBev's response, as Budweiser's trademark does not include the word "queen."
The alcohol industry has seen several trademark disputes lately, including a couple just earlier this month. Diageo North America has taken a case against Captain Amsterdam for its alleged Captain Morgan look-a-like in its marketing, and Sazerac filed a trademark lawsuit against North Carolina's Stout Brewing Company for trademark infringement over Stout's malt liquor brand, Fire Flask, which Sazerac says too closely resembles marketing for its Fireball Cinnamon Whisky.