Geez they're a bunch of morons... I know, I'm resorting to 'name calling', but just like it did when I was on the playground oh so many years ago.. it makes me feel better.
Gee - since I hear that DB have also 'taken' Saison - I wonder how we can get them to create heaps of publicity for our 'White Tiger Saison'. Anyone want to dob us in?? Actually, what I'm really thinking is, why don't we all just flood the market with radlers and saisons? - well, saisons anyway. One radler is enough.
I think that's an excellent idea. As I understand it, failure to protect your trademark means you lose it. Do it. :)
In other news, we may soon require the assistance of all brewers in NZ in our quest to show that DB are either malicious (registering a trademark they *knew* was a generic brewing term) or incompetent (not knowing it was, when every other brewer worth their salt knew). One means they lose the TM, the other means they lose huge amounts of credibility by being a brewer without a clue about beer - we all know this is the case anyway. Guess which one their marketing department would rather have? ;) Even if we lose this on a technicality, we'll win in terms of what we wanted to achieve - show DB for the soulless, beer-ignorant, marketing machine they truly are, not the brewers they pretend to be, and strike a blow for the freedom to brew a generic style of beer no matter how small you might be.
We'll have a press release out soon calling for help, but in the meantime, if you're a brewer and are prepared to sign something saying you knew what a Radler was prior to 2003, please email info@soba.org.nz. If you're NOT a brewer, and are prepared to sign same, that's extremely useful too, as it's representative of the NZ public. Send an email to the same address.
Expect a reply over the next week with further details, and look for the upcoming press release detailing the next stage of the battle.
Thanks to all for ongoing support and attention during the wait for the slimy ones at DB to drag their feet. Rest assured we won't be stooping to their tactics. There's no need. We're honest.
Also, as an addendum, if you're a BREWER at DB, I know what you can do. I know you get beer. I know it's "just a job", but have you considered taking a stand over this? Why brew crap when you could brew great beer?
Just a thought...