A Calgary brewery that hopped on the lime beer bandwagon has evaded the wrath of a multinational beer conglomerate that’s suing an Ontario brewery for trademark and copyright infringement.
Labatt Brewing Company Limited and Anheuser-Busch InBev — the company that makes Budweiser — say Brick Brewing Company of Waterloo, Ont., “piggybacked” on Bud Light Lime’s success, creating labels and packaging that are “very similar” to Bud Light Lime’s.
But while Brick only launched its Red Baron Lime last month — capitalizing on a stupefying summer trend — Big Rock Brewery has been selling its lime beer since June without any trouble. A Labatt spokesperson said in an e-mail that Big Rock isn’t named in the lawsuit because “they have developed their own brand identity.”
Jim Button, Big Rock’s vice-president of corporate and community affairs, says the company is careful to research trademarks and copyrights before launching a new beer. “We check out all that stuff beforehand,” he says.
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