Anheuser-Busch And Patagonia Clothing End Trademark Dispute

, Anheuser-Busch And Patagonia Clothing End Trademark Dispute

Patagonia Provision’s Long Root beer line

Outdoor clothing company Patagonia and the world’s largest brewer, Anheuser-Busch InBev, have settled their trademark dispute over a new beer brand in the US.

, Anheuser-Busch And Patagonia Clothing End Trademark DisputeHere’s what we know…

In 2019 Patagonia sued Budweiser’s parent company, Anheuser-Busch AB InBev, for selling a beer that bears its name with imaging that evokes the fashion line’s rugged, brand and logo.

The federal lawsuit accused AB InBev of trademark infringement for, as CNN explains, “copying the brand’s name and aesthetic on its beer. Anheuser-Busch’s Patagonia beer packaging includes a silhouette of a mountain and the word Patagonia in bold lettering.”

In the lawsuit company Patagonia alleged that AB InBev “has gone as far as creating a logo that is strikingly similar to Patagonia’s famous mountain silhouette logo that has appeared continuously for decades on millions of products.”

To make matters worse, Patagonia, a fashion line which specializes in clothing for outdoor pursuits such as hiking or skiing, has its own line of Long Root beers which are sold through its Patagonia Provisions arm.  So it’s not like they aren’t in the beer business.

, Anheuser-Busch And Patagonia Clothing End Trademark DisputeOn the other hand Anheuser-Busch InBev had been granted a trademark to sell Patagonia beer in the United States in 2012. But the company sat on the name and the product until 2018, when it started a selling beer with the branding at ski resorts in Colorado, a huge market place for Patagonia apparel.

In a September 2020 ruling the US District Court for the central district of California’s Western Division-Los Angeles rejected Anheuser-Busch’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit saying that the branding AB InBev used was sufficiently similar that a jury needs to decide if there was true trademark infringement.

But in a mutual court filing on March 22, both companies have agreed to dismiss their dispute over the launch of a Patagonia-branded beer.

And as is usual in these kinds of agreements, the financial terms of the settlement have not been disclosed.

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