E-Malt.com News article: USA, MD: Citizens Brewing Company changes its name to Denizens

A planned Silver Spring brewery has changed its name after local brewery DC Brau stepped in to defend its branding of a beer with a similar name. Citizens Brewing Company will become Denizens Brewing Company after receiving a cease-and-desist letter from DC Brau, citing the potential for confusion between its beer, "The Citizen," and the new brewery, Washington Post reported on December 12.

"There isn't a brewery named Citizens. We pursued this in good faith," Denizens co-founder Emily Bruno said. "We've invested thousands of dollars. We did not believe there would be any market confusion."

Bruno, along with her co-founders, Julie Verratti and Jeff Ramirez, chose the name because it spoke to the ideals of their brewpub, which they aim to open in May 2014 in Silver Spring. "We wanted to create an environment for all citizens to come in and learn about beer," Bruno said. The brewers say they had no plans to produce a beer called Citizens.

The group submitted a trademark application in March under the classification for "Brewpub services; Serving food and drinks; Taproom services featuring beer brewed on premises." The application was progressing along until last week, when a notice from the Patent and Trademark Office indicated the likelihood of confusion between the two brands. Giancarlo Castro, the examining attorney for Denizens' application, could not comment on pending trademark applications.

That same week, the group received a call from DC Brau co-owner Brandon Skall. Though both parties expressed hope of resolving the issue over the phone, they weren't able to reach a resolution, and DC Brau's legal team sent Denizens a cease-and-desist letter on December 6.

There are no judges or courts involved. Bruno said Denizens would rather spend its money on brewing equipment than legal fees, so the cease-and-desist was enough to induce the change. A search through the trademark database reveals that there's a Denizens registered to a liquor company, but Bruno doesn't think that will give them any problems, because it is different enough from their product.


13 December, 2013