Trademark Dispute Could End An International Cult Beer

A coveted Imperial Stout with a rabid following in the United Kingdom as well as in Europe may be discontinued due to a trademark dispute with another UK brewery.

Here’s the deal…

Yellow Belly, an 11% collaboration between the UK’s Buxton Brewery and Sweden’s Omnipollo, was first brewed in 2014 as part of Siren Brewing’s Rainbow Project Challenge where 14 breweries paired up and were tasked with creating a beer inspired by the colors of the rainbow.

Buxton and Omnipollo who drew ‘yellow’ interpreted the word as referencing cowardice, particularly political cowardice. And according to the Drinks Business the breweries developed Yellow Belly an “11% peanut butter and biscuit Imperial stout (brewed with neither peanuts nor biscuits) – and packaged it in paper deliberately designed to denounce organizations such as the Klu Klux Klan.”

That beer, which is now released annually and become a HUGE international success (think 3 Floyd’s Dark Lord or Surly Darkness) is now embroiled in a trademark dispute that could spell its end.

Another UK brewer, Batemans Brewery has also made a claim to the name and their argument as to their position is compelling…

Batemans has produced a beer called Yella Belly for the past 20 years. And although its style has evolved (its currently a Golden Ale) the brewery is believed to be the European holder of the ‘Yellow Belly’ trademark.

And to complicate things even further there are European and American trademarks. And according to an Omnipollo tweet the American name holder Sapsucker Farms an organic farm in Minnesota which makes Yellow Belly cider took to its website to explain that they are in no way involved in the pending “cease & desist” demand….…

“We have been very aware of the other Yellow Belly for a long time. In fact, here in Minnesota, we work with the same distributor too. And even though we own the US trademark for the name, the two Yellow Belly brands (ours and theirs) are so different, that we felt we could easily co-exist.”

“We also liked what they are doing, so we have not felt the need to pursue any legal action. However, that does not mean that we aren’t concerned about protecting our trademark. We are protective of our trademark and we do keep an eye on what is happening here in the USA and evaluate each situation as it arises.”

Speaking to the BBC, Stuart Batement, managing director of Batemans expressed hope that the breweries involved might to reach a solution… and that he had been “surprised” by the scale and vitriol of the online backlash, but continued to maintain the importance of checking registered names before releasing products.

Trademark disputes in the beer biz are hardly usual…

This year alone the industry has seen Sony take on California brewery Knee Deep Brewing over its Breaking Bad beer. MillerCoors and Stone Brewing are still locked up in litigation, while BrewDog did finally win its appeal against the Elvis Presley estate.