Bell’s Brewery sends cease and desist letter to Northern Brewer

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Michigan beer lovers know about Larry Bell's Cafe ATM Scam, and the way he stalks former employees and tried to smear them and ace them out from distributors.

He makes great beer, but he is a bully and mean.
 
Weak. It would be one thing if they were making and selling a beer to consumers named three hearted ale. Craft breweries give out their recipes all the time and usually have a mutual respect for home brewers. I have more respect for the way Nothern Brewer is handling it than Bells. I personally am not a fan of Two Hearted Ale in the first place but now Im even more not of a fan of Bells.

Theres too many other great beer companies out there than to support this one in my opinion. The rest of you can do as you please but Bells has left a bad taste in my mouth. Both literally and figuratively.
 
If you don't defend your mark against infringement you risk a court finding that you have, through inaction, abandoned your trademark. ("A mark shall be deemed to be “abandoned” if ... [A]ny course of conduct of the owner, including acts of omission as well as commission, causes the mark to become the generic name for the goods or services or in connection with which it is used or otherwise to lose its significance as a mark. 15 U.S.C.A. 1127 (2010)).

Sending a cease and desist letter via certified mail gives you proof for later on that you notified a potential infringer of your intention to defend your mark. You can see why this option is preferable to "just picking up the phone."

What happened in this story is not extraordinary, or even surprising, or anything to get worked up about. Nobody is being a jerk, or doing something other than what they ought to in good conscience do, considering the context.
 
BBGunBrewery said:
So how does Austin Homebrew supply do it? They have a whole section of "Our Version of Commercial Brews." They don't even skirt around the issue, they have 4 types of Bell's kits you can buy.

Why can't all breweries be a cool a Surly (share the exact recipe with NB), and Rogue (list all their ingredients on the bottle). I like Bell's...a lot. But I think they are making mountains out of molehills here.

What's their main beef? Is it that the recipe is so close to the original they feel it will cut in their profits? Or is it that the name is so close to the original?
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I'd guess Surly gets a cut of their kit sales at NB. What NB is doing with Surly is way beyond NB's other 'clones.'
 
jkreuze said:
If you don't defend your mark against infringement you risk a court finding that you have, through inaction, abandoned your trademark. ("A mark shall be deemed to be “abandoned” if ... [A]ny course of conduct of the owner, including acts of omission as well as commission, causes the mark to become the generic name for the goods or services or in connection with which it is used or otherwise to lose its significance as a mark. 15 U.S.C.A. 1127 (2010)).

Sending a cease and desist letter via certified mail gives you proof for later on that you notified a potential infringer of your intention to defend your mark. You can see why this option is preferable to "just picking up the phone."

What happened in this story is not extraordinary, or even surprising, or anything to get worked up about. Nobody is being a jerk, or doing something other than what they ought to in good conscience do, considering the context.
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I totally agree. This reminds me of back in the day when land was registered under the Land Registry Act rather than the Land Titles Act. If people regularly crossed your land to access a place for a certain period of time unimpeded, you could actually lose the right to your own property permanently. Because of this, land owners would be forced to put up a gate and a no-trespassing sign once a year to prove that they still exerted control over that land. The other 364 days, they could just let people be. They weren't trying to be dicks, they simply were doing what the law required in order to keep what they owned.

Seems to me this sounds a lot like the same thing.
 
You guys will pick up a torch and a pitchfork at any opportunity.

This is no longer an issue to any of the concerned parties.

http://northernbrewer.blogspot.com/2011/03/nb-bells-lets-all-relax-dont-worry.html


So please don't find yourself at odds with Bell's for protecting what they have, in kind, created. Bell's Brewing is amongst the finest producers of microbrewed ales, the world over. Their business obligations and the craft of the people who brew their great beers are separate entities, as any pro brewer can attest. I ask of you, our loyal homebrewers, not to call out or boycott Bell's for fulfilling their legal obligations. Remember, the people who acted on behalf of Bell's in instigating this change did so because of their commitment to their product, just as you choose NB because of your commitment to your product.
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I for one look forward to Bells Three Hearted Ale and Bells Mofo 5 Hearted Eat That Gillette Mach 5 Ale
 
olllllo said:
Hey, I'm a veteran of the great besmirching of Sam Adams and several Dogfish Head, New Belgium proxy wars.

Dawn??

You have me at a disadvantage being you are in EST and I am in PST.
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It will take 3 hours for his bullet to cross the continent. You'll get your shot off.
 
olllllo said:
Hey, I'm a veteran of the great besmirching of Sam Adams and several Dogfish Head, New Belgium proxy wars.

Dawn??

You have me at a disadvantage being you are in EST and I am in PST.
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Then swords at sunset?

I shall meet thee in Tulsa, Oklahoma!
 
I'm a law student, not a lawyer, so this is not legal advice. To keep your trademark, you have to defend it diligently. If you don't send a proper C&D you risk losing your trademark in court and as an attorney you'd get sued for malpractice. As impolite as a C&D is, it isn't a lawsuit and its not hurting anyone - it covers the company's ass not just from NB but anyone else who wants to use their trademark. Once you've covered your bases, then you can talk about licensing or some other compromise.

This really isn't as big a deal as everyone seems to think. A real attorney can step in and correct me/ add anything if they want.
 
jeffjm said:
Bell's has to put something in writing, because if they don't, they've basically forfeited any claim to the trademark and are screwed if somebody else starts marketing a commercial beer under the Two Hearted name.
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I would think there's a nicer way to do that though, like a friendly phone call, so that the actual letter doesn't come as a surprise and make Bell's look like big biz ********.
 
As a fellow lawyer myself, no one should lose sight of the context: Bell's has a trademark, and if they do not protect it they will lose it. It doesn't mean they don't like NB, it doesn't mean they are trying to be bullies. The way to protect your mark is to issue a cease-and-desist letter. It becomes "Exhibit A" if the issue ever goes to litigation.

Don't beat up on the lawyer, he is simply doing his job in protecting his client's rights.
 
topend said:
As a fellow lawyer myself, no one should lose sight of the context: Bell's has a trademark, and if they do not protect it they will lose it. It doesn't mean they don't like NB, it doesn't mean they are trying to be bullies. The way to protect your mark is to issue a cease-and-desist letter. It becomes "Exhibit A" if the issue ever goes to litigation.

Don't beat up on the lawyer, he is simply doing his job in protecting his client's rights.
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Also a law student, so no bar card yet, but for all of you who think Bell was being ******** about it, think of it this way. Had Bell not taken due diligence to protect its trademark in a way provable in future disputes, it would risk MillerCoors being able to produce it's own Two Hearted Ale (also triple hopped to lock in the flavor) and Bell wouldn't be able to stop them. What's the bigger travesty?
 
I'm a lawyer and I have not the foggiest idea of how intellectual property laws work, but here's how you do exactly what you guys are talking about while not being a tool:

1) Call NB and ask them to change the name.
2) Follow up with an email to whoever you talked to confirming that they will change the name.
 
Does anyone else see the irony in Bell's lifting the Two Hearted name from one of Hemingway's works? Too bad he's not alive and able to send a C&D letter to Larry Bell.
 
Go northern brewers we all respect you guys. Doing your best too make fresh great kits !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
:rockin:
 
Oh, ****! That's the funniest thing I've seen in a while.

DubbelDach said:
Crap.... I just got a C&D letter from Bell's too....

labels_hoof.jpg


Also from Family Guy. :D:D:D
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I am another pain in the ass lawyer. While I don't do it every day, I do do some copyright and trademark work. As others have said, consistent defense of a mark is required to keep the mark robust going forward. In other words, some buddy could be selling t shirts that the company thinks are infringing, etc. It doesn't have to be beer.

As far as Austin, I would hazard a guess that the reason they do not get more cease and desist letters is because they are not trying to pass something off. It is pretty clear on their site that the kit is a clone of a recognized mark, not something that can be confused for the mark.
 
10 years, 10 YEARS, count em, 10!

"partial extract" that made me laugh. Guess Bell's lawyer didn't proofread that one.

I just lost some serious respect for Bell's. There was clearly a way to go about this that didn't make them look stupid, maybe pick up a phone? Seriously, did they really think NB was going to claim a right to the three hearted ale name? Or consumers were going to be so confused in the marketplace that they would think a homebrew kit with a similar name is the same thing as a commercialy produced beer? This smells like Bell's just hired a new law firm and they went out searching and sending letters to anyone and everyone. Bell's looks dumb in my book.
 
Scutrbrau said:
Does anyone else see the irony in Bell's lifting the Two Hearted name from one of Hemingway's works? Too bad he's not alive and able to send a C&D letter to Larry Bell.
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FYI.. Two Hearted is the name of a river in Michigan. Hemingway not own it.
 
HarkinBanks said:
I just lost some serious respect for Bell's. There was clearly a way to go about this that didn't make them look stupid, maybe pick up a phone? Seriously, did they really think NB was going to claim a right to the three hearted ale name? Or consumers were going to be so confused in the marketplace that they would think a homebrew kit with a similar name is the same thing as a commercialy produced beer? This smells like Bell's just hired a new law firm and they went out searching and sending letters to anyone and everyone. Bell's looks dumb in my book.
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Did you read any other part of this thread?! Bell's has to defend their trademark to keep it, and the easiest way to do that is a C&D letter. It really has nothing to do with confusion or NB stealing the name, Bell's has to do this according to the US legal system to keep their trademark valid.
 
I am a fan of Northern Brewer but aren't they just as much to blame for breaking the news via Facebook? While some prior notice to the C&D would have been preferable I don't see it as grounds to post:
"So ... we just received a letter from an attorney representing one of our favorite craft breweries; this letter informed us that we need to change the name of our Three Hearted Ale kit in a hurry. We'd love to hear your suggestions!"
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This just kinda comes across to me as childish and unprofessional; the manner in which they initially reacted to the C&D is just as bad as sending said cease and desist without any heads up.
 
passedpawn said:
You're right, but the story is about a ex-soldier trout fishing (on fly) and there is a trout on the bottle. Comes right out of the story. But yeah you're right.
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Maybe, but to be really fair, the river is sort of famous for trout fishing as are more than a few rivers in the Northern Lower Peninnsula and Upper Peninnsula. It's not like Hemmingway INVENTED trout fishing on the Two Hearted River.

Add the fact that fish have 2 heart chambers and it's no big stretch to think that a fish on the bottle would be more than appropriate.

I suppose they could have called it any one of the fly fishing rivers in the state, but putting a fish on the label and calling it two hearted takes into account all of them at once.
 
Calix_Meus_Inebrians said:
I am a fan of Northern Brewer but aren't they just as much to blame for breaking the news via Facebook? While some prior notice to the C&D would have been preferable I don't see it as grounds to post: This just kinda comes across to me as childish and unprofessional; the manner in which they initially reacted to the C&D is just as bad as sending said cease and desist without any heads up.
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I don't see the problem; they just reported the facts and informed the community that the name will be changing, and asked for suggestions. Were they supposed to change the name "secretly" without letting anyone know? I am sure that would have generated a lot more questions.
 
+1 I think a lot of people here and there are over-reacting to a very clear cut case of someone protecting their name. They weren't dicks about it. Sure they *could* have called and talked to the owner there are NB, but a C&D is not necessarily a heavy handed threat either. It's an official notification.

I'm not going to argue about whether or not Larry Bell has ever done *****ey things. I just thing more people are getting a rise out of a very simple thing that the participants are making a big deal out of.
 
Revvy said:
But have you actually read NB's comments on their FB page? They're being pretty gratious about it.

And the most recent one...
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That is awesome. Ina world with no class, NB shows they have some. This makes me like them even more
 
What would be awesome is if Bell's let them change the name to "Two Hearted," add their logo along with the "TM" and sell it with their other pro series beers. Maybe jack the price up to donate to "save lake michigan" or something.
 
Bells is well within their right to do this. This is more copyright infringement. There could be a three hearted ale. However NB makes clone kits which is the issue. All of these clone kits are treading on thin ice anyhow. Its the spirit of community in craft brewing that hasn't had brewers litigating against clone brews using their names. And some of you boo a brewer that has every right to speak up when a clone comes too close to the line?
 
ArcaneXor said:
I don't see the problem; they just reported the facts and informed the community that the name will be changing, and asked for suggestions. Were they supposed to change the name "secretly" without letting anyone know? I am sure that would have generated a lot more questions.
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I definitely agree with you, I was simply trying to say how they initially handled the issue was just as bad as what happened to them. After that they handled things extremely well but the masses had already grabbed their mash paddles and were heading to war. There are lots of ways to break news and I feel like facebook isn't a good way, I also felt that the tone of the post was "We are getting bullied into this so help us pick a new name!"
 

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