Brew Dog Hop Rocker - 25% off

[Daniel Parker]

Get it while you can.. It looks like we are not selling it after next Thursday.. Selling below cost.

http://www.beerstore.co.nz/detail.lasso?BeerID=1680

If you want to know why.. click this link (2.2Mb PDF):
http://www.beerstore.co.nz/docs/lion.pdf

Oh.. and if you happen to be a trademark lawyer.. please contact me.

Regards
Daniel
The Beer Store

[nzbrewer]

scan the letter and post it

[Daniel Parker]

Its directed at Green Man.. not me, so I don't have it. There is a special mention in there though for us to remove the offending trademark.

Daniel

[nzbrewer]

Tom the Pom can you please scan and post letter

[JoKing]

I can't wait 'till Grieg finds out...

[BeerNZ]

This has gone beyond a joke. Radler is a style - albeit one that doesn't have it's own WBC class. Daniel - it would make some good press if you perhaps contacted Cam Williamson and got something together in the Waikato Times. "Big Boys beat up on local business" etc

[Barry]

I can easily see how Lion has an issue with Hop Rocker. In fact it's really pretty reasonable - it's an exact utter rip-off of the name, in a very similar product with very similar branding. Even the most passionate of us surely must see that.

BUT, and this is a big but, that's shame on Brew Dog, NOT beerstore.

I would have thought something along these lines more appropriate - Lion catches wind of offending product (as it probably has more hop aroma than they're used to). Lion's expensive trade mark lawyer sends a cease and desist order to brewery. Brewery contacts it's outlets and arranges a buy back deal. Brewery takes it in it's stride, changes branding and continues to create good beer for the benefit of those of us who give a shit.
Nowhere in that scenario should beerstore be accountable merely for selling a product offered to them by a distributor. Pull your heads out of your asses Lion, go after the culprit. Or is that too hard as they're in Scotland? Now what good is that multinational status?

And I'm with Greig, Lion you have the opportunity to change all of this simply by using flavour as your most significant brand differentiator. You don't, and we all loathe you for it. You gigantic pack of cunts.

[Barry]

Oh and DB, have you learned nothing from the Summer Ale complete and utter legal FAILURE? Or did you just think that by taking on someone smaller you might get away with it?
You're a gigantic pack of cunts too.

[Reviled]

What was the whole Summer Ale thing? When did that go down?

[Barry]

last year DB took on Lion (macs) over "Summer Ale". Ball of flames.

[Stu McKinlay]

I've got the judge summary of the "summer ale" case at home - will upload it on here tonight. Sending that back to DB should pretty much shut them up. If not, I'm sure there are plenty of lawyers out there that would love the opportunity to get some TV time, win you a case and get nothing but a few beers as payment.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radler

From the monteith's site:
MONTEITH'S LEMON AND LIME FLAVOURED RADLER® is a refreshing fruity lager, based on the style brewed in Bavaria in the 1920's.

I repeat: based on the style brewed in Bavaria in the 1920's.

[nzbrewer]

http://www.ajpark.co.nz/articles/2008/01/summer_ale_brand_or_style.php

[BeerNZ]

Sorry - it's Bruce Holloway that does the Waikato Times - great article last week too about Tuatara Pilsner and the demise of the Speights craft range