| In Whiskey
Bottle Trademark Trial Bulleit Compared to
Redemption Embossing and Patent
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell
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BBC-Guardian
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NY
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SDNY COURTHOUSE,
May 23 –A rare whiskey bottle
trademark trial is underway
before U.S. District Court for
the Southern District of New
York Judge Louis L. Stanton
and Inner City Press is
covering it.
Diageo
North America, Inc. beyond
Smirnoff, Guinness and Johnnie
Walker has Bulleit brand
whiskey as one of its flagship
products.
It is name after
Augustus Bulleit who sold
high-rye whiskey from a tavern
from 1830 to 1860, described
in the complaint at the days
of the "Old West."
On the witness
stand on May 16 was the bottle
and label's designer, cross
examined by counsel for the
defendants Deutsch and
Bardstown Barrel Selections,
LLC.
The line
of questioning should to show
the civil jury that the
designer had in essence copies
the design from a bottle in a
museum.
But the design
said he, he had modified the
design. He went to the museum,
he said, to learn about the
history of American
whiskey.
There was a
dispute about what constitutes
an oblong versus flask-shaped
bottle.
The courtroom was
surprisingly full.
On May 17, on the
stand was a witness from
Deutsche, responding on emails
about the placement in liquor
stores in Minnesota and New
Jersey (Super Buy Rite of
Williamstown, NJ) of
Redemption next to Bulleit.
The witness said he was not
aware of customer confusion
but he understand Diegeo
alleges it.
On May 18 there
was cross-examination about
the "trade dress" of Bulleit,
St. Peter's, Gilbey's and a
photo of Fireball was flashed
to the jury. There were an
array of bottles on the
witness stand, as in a bar.
On May 19 Ms.
Kilgore of Deutsch described
the Redemption bottle as
"manly" as they found people
wanted this whiskey, a bottle
with broad shoulders. Also, a
visible cork to show it's
premium. She dissed Bulleit.
On May 20, it was
expert versus expert. A slide
entitled "Problems with Mr.
Reilly's Calculations" was
shown to the jury. The witness
said, Inventory is an asset.
One of the jurors, on the top
row, nodded. Deageo wants $21
million.
On May 23, the
witness on the stand laughed
when handed a large document
she had previously signed. She
said she knew they had an
agreement on the intellectual
property of the Redemption
bottle, but didn't remember
the patent application.
Questioning got into the
embossing.
The case is
Diageo North America, Inc. v.
W.J. Deutsch & Sons, Ltd.,
et al., 17-cv-4259 (Stanton)
***
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