Rock Art Brewery’s trademark battle with Monster Energy Drink maker, Hansen’s Beverage leads to pursuit of reform in trademark law.
You might remember the story about Rock Art Brewing of Vermont being bullied by Hansen Energy over their beer named Vermonster. Hansen initially argued that this barleywine could somehow create confusion with their Monster energy drink in a can. After a huge outcry of support for Rock Art by the craft beer community, Hansen Energy backed down. Here’s a new video explaining how this incident may open the door to the reformation of trademark law. (Mind the 80′s hairdos)
As a side note: we strongly recommend Rock Art forgo naming an amber ale Toro Rojo.
For those who have not yet heard,Hansen Energy Drink and Rock Art have reached a trade agreement after the maker of Monster Energy initially ordering a cease and desist on the small Vermont microbrewery for naming a seasonal barleywine ale Vermonster.
Hansen Beverage Company and Rock Art Brewery today issued the following statement in connection with a recent trademark issue:
Hansen Beverage Company and Rock Art Brewery have reached an amicable agreement under which both companies’ respective products will be protected – Hansen’s Monster Energy® line of energy drinks and Rock Art’s Vermonster beer products.
> Rodney Sacks, Hansen’s chief executive officer, said: “We are pleased that we were able to resolve this matter expeditiously and put the concerns that had arisen behind us so that both parties can concentrate on their day-to-day businesses, selling their respective high-quality products. Our intent in this matter was simply to protect Hansen’s trademarks and prevent any likelihood of confusion arising in the future through potential product extensions and was not to prevent Rock Art Brewery from selling their Vermonster beer.”
> Matt Nadeau, owner of Rock Art Brewery, said: “Once Rodney and I were able to talk to each other we quickly appreciated each other’s points of view and he acted reasonably, which allowed us to rapidly come to an agreement we are both happy with and allows both of us to move forward positively.”
Billion dollar Energy Drink company uses deep pockets to go after Vermont microbrewery.
A buzz around the American craft beer community has revealed an ugly truth stemming from the pits of corporate America. We heard about it on the social networking site Facebook where several friends and brewers have reacted. Morrisville, Vermont’s Rock Art Brewery has been issued a cease and desist order from Monster Energy Drink. Monster, who would appear is living up to its name, is marketed and distributed by Hansen Natural Corporation, a NASDAQ listed company of Corona, California. Hansen Natural Corporation recently announced a distribution agreement with Anheuser-Busch in the United States. The letter from the corporate team at Monster claims there is confusion generated by the Rock Art’s seasonal barley wine named “Vermonster” created a couple years back to celebrate their tenth anniversary.
Rock Art began as a two person operation twelve years ago by husband and wife team Matt and Renee Nadeau. Today, the business remains a modest microbrewery operation that employs seven people and distributes to five states outside of Vermont. On the other hand, Hansen Natural who owns the Monster energy drink is a publicly traded company with a reported gross sales for the second quarter of 2009 of $345.8 million, up 6.7% from $324.1 million in the same period last year. According to reports, Monster sold a cool $1 billion worth of the energy drink last year.
Not only does the multi-million dollar Monster mega corporation want the mom and pop outfit Rock Art to stop using the word “Vermonster,” but they also expect the brewery to compensate it for its attorneys’ fees. This is all at the hands of the Goliath energy drink’s lawyers.
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