Beer battle simmers down

Tony Magee was furious when he first saw how closely the label on a new beer by Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. resembled that of his own Lagunitas IPA. But after some fruitless conversations with the rival brewery’s CEO, and the filing - and quick retraction - of a lawsuit claiming trademark infringement, Magee has decided to live with it.

The lawsuit, filed Monday in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, claimed that Sierra Nevada’s new Hop Hunter IPA label, scheduled for release this week, was a “radical departure from its traditional label designs,” “remarkably similar to the iconic Lagunitas design,” and “likely to cause confusion or mistake, or to deceive the consumer.”

Such confusion “enables Sierra Nevada to benefit unfairly from Lagunitas’ reputation and success,” according to the lawsuit, which sought an end to the Hop Hunter design as well as punitive and other damages.

In a conversation with the Argus-Courier on Tuesday, Magee made it clear he considered the trademark dispute to be a very serious matter in an industry better known for its friendly, rather than litigious, rivalries.

“This is the worst thing that we’ve been involved with, ever,” he said. “I feel terrible about it.”

Magee said he became aware of Sierra Nevada’s new label in early December, and that he had attempted to resolve the issue without lawyers: “We tried to have a conversation, and that conversation has been rebuffed.”

Talk between the breweries went back and forth, and ultimately nowhere, he said. “And this isn’t attorneys talking, this is me calling Ken Grossman, the other guy.”

Grossman, CEO of Sierra Nevada, apparently disagreed that his Hop Hunter IPA label - which, like Lagunitas IPA, prominently features the three letters (an acronym for “India Pale Ale”) in tall black font - crossed the line into trademark infringement. After their talks were not productive, Magee said, Grossman “told me to do what I have to do.”

Sierra Nevada spokesperson Hunter Sasser said she couldn’t comment on those conversations, but in a few brief statements the Chico-based brewery made clear that it felt the new label does not infringe on Lagunitas’ trademark.

“We have no interest in our products being confused with any other brand,” the company stated on its website.

By Tuesday night, however, the debate had become moot after Magee tweeted he would drop the lawsuit because he’d already lost in “the court of public opinion.”

“There are many courts in the world,” he wrote. “For me, over the last month, one court was a series of rebuffed phone calls. Another was a court of law. Today was in the hands of the ultimate court, the court of public opinion, and in it I got an answer to my question; our IPA’s TM has limits.”

Magee went on to say that Lagunitas would drop the suit Wednesday morning. “I had to know the answer, but the answer came much sooner than I thought and in a different court than I thought it would. Can I say thanks?”

It was a sharp change of course for Magee, who a few hours earlier told the Argus-Courier that he regarded the rival company’s new label as a kind of betrayal from a company he respects.

“Sierra is a big wonderful brewery with a long history,” he said. “(They’ve) long been heroes of mine. I just don’t understand. But I’ve got 650 employees here, hopefully with a long future here. It’s important that we protect our identity.”

Magee said his company had never litigated before, because “That kind of conflict is contrary to the idea of trying to be chill.”

The Lagunitas founder, who designed the IPA label himself, said then that he still hoped to take the dispute out of the courtroom - and he acknowledged that the issue of trademark infringement is a tricky one.

“We don’t think we own the letters ‘IPA.’ Not even remotely so. But that particular presentation of it is a registered design mark,” he said.

“There’s a reason why trademark exists.”