Earlier today I got this email from Erik Boles, one of the masterminds behind Beer Tap TV and good friend of truecask.com. The gist of his letter was this: Monster Energy Drink, a Coca-Cola distributed beverage brand is suing a small Vermont brewery over a trademark issue. Despite the fact that the lawsuit is complete baseless, there is little the brewer can do simply because of financial limitations. We, the craft beer community, must do whatever we can in order to stop this from going any further. I don’t even have access to the beer this brewery makes, as I’m sure many of you don’t. However, if we allow this to happen what is to say another major company won’t come after another tiny brewery and slowly but surely destroy everything we love so dearly. I implore you, take Erik’s lead, stand up, let your voice be heard, and fight this as best as you can.
From Erik…
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Dear friends,
If you have not yet heard. RockArt Brewery, a small, family owned brewery in Vermont, started by Matt and his wife Renee, are being sued by Hansen Beverage, the makers of Monster Energy Drink.
Why the lawsuit? Hansen believes that the new beer from RockArt, Vermonster, is a trademark infringment and feels people will get confused between their huge black and bright green can and the brown bottle of beer.
As we started to dig, it looks like Hansen Beverage actually wants to get into the beer business, and this could be part of the suit. We cover this on todays episode of Beer Buzz (Link).
Won’t you please join the taphead nation in standing up for what is right in america. Boycott Monster Energy drink. How you can help:
- If you are on twitter, add a twibbon to your avatar: Support Rock Art Brewery Twibbon
- If you are on facebook join the group: Vermonters and Craft Beer Drinkers Against Monster
Furthermore, if you are really gonna dig in, email the folks at Hansen beverage and let them know that if they do this, they should also be suing Monster.com, the cookie monster, Terrapin Brewing (makers of Big Hoppy Monster), or Ben & Jerry’s ice cream for their huge sunday, also called The Vermonster. (wiki)
Contact link for Monster Energy parent company
Thanks to everyone in the taphead nation for sticking together and doing what’s right!
Erik Boles
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[...] TRUE CASK — “Support RockArt Brewery” [...]
Posted by BOYCOTT MONSTER ENERGY « SUPPORT ROCK ART BREWERY SAVE VERMONSTER on October 16th, 2009.
This is absolutely maddening, but unfortunately a true tale of what not just the U.S. Court system has become but also Canada’s. As a soon to be lawyer, the huge issue of access to justice depresses me. I hope that media attention will end up solving this dude’s problem. I’ll certainly lend my voice to his cause. Unbelievable.
Posted by Shea on October 16th, 2009.
[...] one of the most embarrassing craft beer related lawsuits since the Vermonster debacle, our friends down at Bear Republic Brewery have filed a trademark infringement order [...]
Posted by Craft Brewers Square Off, Missing The Point Entirely | truecask.com on February 9th, 2010.