Beer names

[matt.]

When a brewery is about to launch a new beer, how do they check that the name hasn't been used before?
Is there a central registry that holds names?

Same issue for cars.

Asking out of interest since I've just seen an amazing amount of different beers here on a visit to New Jersey.

 

[samale]

Not sure but it's like everything else, you would need to research before launching
https://www.thecaterer.com/products/brewdog-shore-leave-jump-ship-legal-challenge

 

[LeeH]

Untapped would be a good place to start.

If you look on there you will find my local micro with a beer called the same too.

 

[The Baron]

Car Manufacturers register all the names each they can think of for future models too so nobody else can use them

 

[Jim Brewster]

Car Manufacturers register all the names each they can think of for future models too so nobody else can use them

And Ford uses it to rename their new models with the names of their old ones

 

[The Baron]

That's because they have registered the names many years ago Jim and certain models had some really good models in their day and people become sentimental/wear rose tinted glasses which helps a new model to appeal to them

 

[Agentgonzo]

Car companies register a trademark witch means other people can't make cars with the same name.

I'm pretty sure the big breweries do it as well

I would guess that the small breweries don't, and just rely on the fact that no other brewery in the same area will use the same name.

 

[RichardM]

If you look on Untappd you'll see lots of breweries duplicating beer names

 

[Agentgonzo]

Even back in "the day", a lot of breweries named their beers the same name. Like "mild" and "best" etc

 

[Northern_Brewer]

Even back in "the day", a lot of breweries named their beers the same name. Like "mild" and "best" etc

That's because they were specific words that had become generic - the big fear of trademark owners like Hoover is that their trademarks become so universal that they can no longer be defended as trademarks.

Trademarks are the "official" way to defend a name, but they cost a few £100 to register and are "use it or lose it", you have to actively protect them legally. So something like "London Pride" is Fuller's trademark in the beer area (but you may be able to register that name for use as a car name for instance, you have to specify what you want to use it for), but for the typical microbrewery it's not worth the cost of a trademark for a one-off batch that may only be worth £1k.

And yes, people do look at Untappd, it's not an exhaustive guide to whether a name has been used but it's a good starting point.

The only trouble is that with so many beers being released, it's getting harder and harder to find unique ones, which is why some breweries go for the longwinded ones along the lines of "Looking at cheetahs over the African savannah" or whatever.

 

[sifty]

One of the big breweries here in NZ registered 'Radler' as a trademark for one of their beers.
Curious how they managed that as it's both a generic term for a style of beer * plus the German word for cyclist.

Caused a bit of controversy, they got away with it as apparently it was not a 'well known style of beer'. Beer aficionados and breweries disagreed...

* (effectively a fruit shandy)