A lawsuit was filed this week by the owner of Budweiser, Corona, and Stella Artois against US beer-maker Constellation Brands, for using the Corona brand name in a hard seltzer.

Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) acquired Corona’s parent company, Grupo Modelo, in 2013, however US antitrust regulators required it to sell the company’s US-based business to Constellation. AB InBev retained rights to the products in other markets, and the deal gave Constellation the rights to produce Corona and other Modelo brands in the US.

The lawsuit claims that Constellation violated the deal by using the Corona brand for a non-beer product.

As hard seltzer continues to dominate the market with growth, (2018 saw 10 hard seltzer brands on the market with an increase to 65 in 2020 according to Nielsen) Constellation’s Corona hard seltzer launched in the US in February 2020 and has become the fourth-largest seltzer brand with a 6% market share. The top three spots are held by White Claw, Boston Beer’s Truly, and Bud Light Seltzer, owned by Ab InBev and launched in January 2020.

AB InBev was sued earlier this month by an Oregon-based Suzie’s Brewery Company for marketing Michelob ULTRA Hard Seltzer as the “first” and “only” organic hard seltzer on the market. Suzie’s Organic Hard Seltzer hit the market last summer, whereas Michelob ULTRA Hard Seltzer was rolled out earlier this year.

Photo courtesy of Constellation Brands