US, TN: AB InBev trademarks area codes for beer

Anheuser-Busch is counting on civic pride to make its next product a smash seller: beer named after America's various beer-drinking cities, based on their area codes. Nashville is among 15 cities where AB InBev has applied for federal trademarks for their area codes, The Tennessean reported on July, 8.

But local observers say that it doesn’t necessarily mean that the brewery giant has specific plans for a 615 beer similar to the wheat ale called 312 produced by a Chicago brewery that it acquired this year.

Besides Nashville’s 615, AB Inbev applied for word marks for these other telephone prefixes: 314 (St. Louis), 412 (Pittsburgh), 305 (Miami), 619 (San Diego), 202 (Washington, D.C.), 602 (Phoenix), 704 (Charlotte), 702 (Las Vegas), 214 (Dallas), 415 (San Francisco), 216 (Cleveland), 303 (Denver), 713 (Houston), and 215 (Philadelphia).

Under trademark laws, the brewer would have the right for up to three years to use those marks with the product class for which they are issued.

Linus Hall, owner of Yazoo Brewing Co. in the Gulch, suspects that AB is trying to protect the idea of having an area code branded as a local beer.

“They would have to come up with one beer and market it as a local beer for each place and I don’t think that would work. I think they’re smarter than that,” Hall added. “In the 90s, people weren’t as savvy about craft beer. Now people would see through that as a marketing gimmick.”

08 July, 2011