Bottle Battle Between Brooklyn Brewery and Belgians

November 9, 2008

When finding out his bottle was a possible infringement of the Westmalle Belgian ringed bottle (trademark rights in which had been assigned to the New Belgium Company in Colorado) Mr Hindy, the owner of the Brooklyn Brewery was happy to withdraw the similar bottle design his designer had come up with for the Brooklyn Local 1 bottle.  See here and here

The bottle featured a double ring around the base of the neck and was amber in colour.

So, he had a ring free bottle mould created at a cost of over $60,000.  Reportedly he was already involved in a trademark litigation matter and wanted to avoid further litigation.

What is interesting about this case is how much publicity it has attracted for Mr Hindy’s Brooklyn Brewery.  I would guess that having the story run in places like the New York Times must be worth a lot more than the $60,000 it cost to redesign the bottles.

[Notes: The trademark for the Belgian ringed bottle was registered on 27 February 2007, registration number 3211981 by ABDIJ DER TRAPPISTEN WESTMALLE V.Z.W. CORPORATION BELGIUM Antwerpwesteenweg 496 B-2390 Westmalle BELGIUM :  (LAST LISTED OWNER) W – N BELGIUM, LLC LTD LIAB CO NEVADA 500 LINDEN STREET FORT COLLINS COLORADO 80524]