Can The Internet Kill Your Lawsuit In One Day?

Yes, if you are a craft brewer with a large and vocal following. On Monday, January 12, 2015, Lagunitas Brewing Company filed a trademark infringement claim against Sierra Nevada Brewing Company over the alleged similarity between the lettering on Lagunitas' IPA and the labels of Sierra Nevada’s forthcoming Hop Hunter IPA.

The complaint alleged, in part, the following:

The unique “IPA” lettering used in the Lagunitas “IPA” Family of Trademarks has a distinctive serif font, distinctive kerning (or letter spacing), between the “P” and the “A”, slightly aged or weathered look, with uneven areas on each of the letters, and the elimination of any periods between the letters. These elements together are unique to the iconic design of the Lagunitas IPA.

According to the SF Gate, “The similarities are so great, Lagunitas argues, that the new Sierra Nevada beer will either harm Lagunitas’s brand or look like a collaboration. The company is seeking a temporary restraining order against the release of Hop Hunter, as well as financial compensation.”

As could be expected, Sierra Nevada strongly objected to the allegations:

The Complaint alleges that Sierra Nevada’s Hop Hunter IPA design will create confusion among consumers between the Lagunitas IPA and Sierra Nevada’s new Hop Hunter IPA, and we intend to vigorously dispute that any consumer could possibly confuse our Hop Hunter packaging with anything that Lagunitas has.

The Internet agreed with Sierra Nevada, and let Lagunitas know of its disagreement with the legal action. So one day later, Tuesday, January 13, 2015, Lagunitas announced that it was withdrawing the lawsuit. Lagunitas' founder and owner, Tony Magee, went into full damage control mode, sending out tweets about the decision to drop the lawsuit and granting interviews to media such as the Chicago Tribune and Paste Magazine. Magee used the following tweet as his mea culpa:

Today was in the hands of the ultimate court; The Court of Public Opinion and in it I got an answer to my Question; Our IPA’s TM has limits.