In a David vs Goliath battle, there was never any doubt who would come out on top: tiny Welsh brewer Boss Brewing or international company Hugo Boss. One has a net income of CA$379 million, the other CA$325,218 – minus the CA$16,000 it just lost in attorney fees.
According to the Daily Mail, Boss Brewing of Swansea fell out with the clothing giant when it applied to trademark its name for the standard fee of CA$481. That made them appear on the Hugo Boss radar and things got ugly.
Hugo Boss demanded that the brewery, founded in 2014, change the name of two of their beers and to stop selling branded clothing.
Boss Brewery’s Boss Black and Boss Boss will now be called Boss Brewing Black and Bossy Bossy.
While fans were hoping Boss Brewery would draw a line in the sand and fight on, the Brewery was not in the financial position to keep battling and owners Sarah John and Roy Allkin decided to bite the bullet and accept defeat.
Sarah John told the Daily Mail: “With their finances it was only going to get worse and worse and we could [have ended] losing anyway.”
Unfortunately, similar battles are happening in North America as well with the same results.
Colorado Oskar Blues Brewery uses hibiscus and prickly-pear cactus in making its rosé ale – a little bit different than most rosé beers but nothing to get upset about – but then they decided to call it Guns’n’Rosé.
No surprise, the band Guns N’ Roses was very upset with Oskar’s choice of name. The band said it caused “irreparable damage” to their brand, claiming that fans would confuse it with official products. Guns N’ Roses are now suing for trademark infringement against Oskar Blues Brewery.