We all enjoy listening to music while drinking a nice, cold beer after a long day at the office.
Well, seems like the fine people from the BrewDog brewery decided to bring those two concepts together by trying to trademark ”Elvis Juice” and ”BrewDog Elvis Juice” for their new beverage.
However, a trademark conflict was brewing between them and Elvis Presley Enterprises (EPE), the company that manages the estate of the late singer. Thus, EPE filed an opposition against the two trademarks.
A sour legal aftertaste
In an attempt to ensure the registration of their trademark applications, two brewers hopped on to changing their own names from James Watt and Martin Dickie to ”Elvis” and filing an appeal, but to no avail.
Ultimately, EUIPO granted the opposition and dismissed the appeal, which led to the refusal of the trademark application.
EUIPO argued that ”It is clear that the applicant’s submission based on the peaceful coexistence of the marks cannot succeed. No evidence actually demonstrating such peaceful existence on the pertinent market has been shown. In short…there exists a likelihood of confusion… A likelihood of confusion for only part of the relevant public of the European Union is sufficient to reject the contested application.”
To avoid being left with a sour aftertaste, all which BrewDog can do is to rebrand their beer and continue selling in the EU.
The main takeaway from here is that you should always make sure that whatever name, logo or design you use is not already registered.
Not sure how to search for it? Send us a message and we’ll help.
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