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NEWS Business Services
Trademarks - it’s good to talk Negotiating is one of the first – and most important – steps that should be taken to resolve a trademark dispute. Sanjay Raphael, Chartered Trademark Attorney at Stephens Scown, explains how this approach helped one of his brewery clients Our client, US brewery Clipper City Brewing Co. (CCBC), wanted to expand into the UK and EU markets. To do so, it sought to file a UK and EU trade mark application for the sign “Loose Cannon” for one of its beers. After we filed the applications on our client’s behalf, we were contacted by Loose Cannon Brewing Co, setting out concerns about CCBC’s trade mark applications and issuing proceedings. Both parties agreed to negotiate a settlement between themselves and we provided CCBC with support, including advice on what they should do to keep
the discussions privileged in the event negotiations failed.
After the terms of the settlement were agreed, we helped to negotiate the contract and ensured that the terms of settlement were not detrimental to our client.
The fact that both parties in this situation were willing to talk and find a way to resolve the dispute was crucial. The outcome was that our client achieved what they set out to do, which was to sell its products in the UK and EU without recourse to legal proceedings. If you find yourself on either side of a similar dispute, here are some tips that may help you: • Seek advice from a specialist Trademark Attorney or solicitor as early as possible; • Be clear about what you want to achieve;
Sanjay Raphael is a Chartered Trademark Attorney in the intellectual property and IT team at Stephens Scown. The team is one of the largest specialist teams in the country and has particular expertise in advising food and drink clients.
• Consider the things that you may be willing to compromise on; • Be prepared to spend time to reach a conclusion. It will almost always be more cost effective to negotiate than to litigate.
When does a taproom become a pub? With more and more microbreweries opening taprooms to showcase their fantastic beers and benefit from another revenue stream, the question of when does that taproom become a pub, is becoming more and more prevalent.
For a brewery’s insurances this is an important question, as many microbreweries will be on a specialist insurance product, which will provide cover for a taproom, but however would not cover a pub. The primary reason for this is because pubs are notorious for high volumes of Public Liability claims, which stem from slips, trips and falls and unsurprisingly the more people drink the more likely someone is to slip, trip or fall. Therefore, from an insurance perspective the question isn’t really ‘when does a taproom become a pub?’, but ‘when does the likelihood of a slip, trip or fall become too high?’
Each insurer will take their own view on when the risk of a Public Liability claim becomes too high but will generally revolve around the three following points. 1. Do you serve any other alcohol than what’s brewed on site? In particular, a selection of wines or spirits? Although not automatically making a taproom a pub, if you’re serving a wide selection of other drinks and especially ones which can have a quick impact on someone’s ability to see straight, your taproom is more likely to be viewed as a pub. 2. How late are you open to? If you are regularly open past 8pm, once again you might be edging towards being a pub, due to the simple reason the later you’re open the more opportunity there is for someone to drink too much and consequently having or causing an accident. 3. Do you provide entertainment/use door men? Having regular entertainment nights,
For further information: www.stephens-scown.co.uk
such as live music or requiring door men to control entry and exit, is almost a sure sign that you are running a pub rather than a taproom. This is because it will likely be a crowded event, with a significantly increased risk to someone getting injured.
So why does this matter? It matters because if an accident does occur; broken wrist, leg, torn ligaments, and the above information hasn’t been disclosed to the insurer, they would be well within their rights to reject the claim. Consequently, the business and even the owners could be held personally responsible for covering their own and the claimant’s legal fees, as well as any compensation awarded in a court of law. With compensation figures increasing, the total sums could easily run into the hundreds of thousands, if not more for serious long-term injuries. Suddenly the business which you have spent so long building and crafting could be in jeopardy, all because three simple questions weren’t asked and consequently your business wasn’t appropriately insured.
For further information: ralph.oakes@towergate.co.uk
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BREWING & BEVERAGE INDUSTRIES BUSINESS • Autumn 2019
