Innovation Brewing can keep name

A federal trademark court has ruled that Innovation Brewing in North Carolina is clear to register its name and branding. Bell’s Brewery in Michigan had argued the microbrewery’s name is too close to two of Bell’s marketing phrases.

In opposing Innovation’s trademark registration in 2014 Bell’s argued Innovation’s name sounded too much like the bigger brewery’s unregistered advertising slogan, “Bottling innovation since 1985.” Bell’s also claimed the word “inspired,” which Bell’s has used on some logos and marketing materials within the phrase “Inspired Brewing,” carries the same meaning as the word “innovation.”

The trademark court found that the slogan in question had not been “used and/or advertised … in connection with a single product (so) that they have come to be associated together, in the mind of the purchasing public” with Bell’s products.