In what should go as no surprise to anyone who has followed breweries having to change the names of their beers after trademark infringements battles, Off Track Brewing of Nova Scotia has agreed to stop calling its peanut butter stout “Damn Skippy”.

The irony of this is, Skippy brand peanut butter has not been sold in Canada for two years so how could Canadian consumers possibly be confused between the two.

In a story by Timothy Geigner in ‘techdirt’, Geigner explains the fine line that needs to be walked between being fun and creative on one side with your craft beer name, and on the other side, corporate lawyers with zero sense of humour and a psychological need to bully.

While some breweries have decided to fight and go to court, almost all realise that the team with the biggest bucks wins in the end and the fight isn’t worth the cost.

In the case of Off Track Brewing, it never got to the litigation level as the brewery agreed to change the name of its stout.

“Damn Skippy” is a slang term meaning “exclamation of excitement or approval.” Off Track Brewing use of “Damn Skippy” is not the first time a brewery as used this as a name for a peanut butter stout. Last year US Blue Stallion Brewing company made a limited release stout called “Ya Damn Skippy.” TBJ could find no reference as to whether Skippy went after Blue Stallion or any of the other manufacturers, such as clothing companies, that use the expression.