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By McDermott Will & Emery on Jan 25, 2018
Posted In Uncategorized
Over the past few years, news headlines have been filled with reports of large data security breaches impacting major brand names and affecting millions of people. It seems like with each new day comes a new breach. The reports are alarming for businesses and consumers alike. No industry is immune from the soaring increase in...
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District Court Denies Motion to Dismiss Deception Claims against Brewer
By McDermott Will & Emery on Jan 24, 2018
Posted In Advertising and Marketing
On January 17, 2018, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California issued a decision in yet another putative class action alleging that a beer brand’s labeling and marketing was false and deceptive. In this case, the defendant is The 21st Amendment Brewery Café (21st Amendment), a successful California-based craft brewery. See...
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Mississippi Court Dismisses Multiple Claims in Distributor Termination Case
By McDermott Will & Emery on Dec 28, 2017
Posted In Distribution, Transactions
On December 15, 2017, a Mississippi trial court issued a series of orders dismissing a substantial number of the claims brought in Rex Distributing Company v. Anheuser-Busch et al., 2nd Cir. Court No. 24C11:17-cv-00033 (Harrison Circuit Court – Gulfport). In 2016, Mississippi beer distributor Rex Distributing (Rex) agreed to sell its business to Adams Beverage...
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TTB Updates to the Semi-Annual Regulatory Agenda
By McDermott Will & Emery on Dec 27, 2017
Posted In Advertising and Marketing, Alcohol Excise Taxes, Non-Beverage Alcohol, TTB COLAs and Formulas
Last week in its regular newsletter, Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) announced updates to the Fall edition of the semi-annual Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions (Regulatory Agenda). Like other federal agencies, TTB uses the Regulatory Agenda to report on its current rulemaking projects. In the updated agenda, a few...
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The Intersection of Spirits and Marijuana
By McDermott Will & Emery and McDermott Will & Emery on Dec 15, 2017
Posted In Advertising and Marketing, Cannabis, Food Safety and FDA, Legislation, TTB COLAs and Formulas
In the past three years, TTB has approved an increasing number of certificate of label approvals (“COLA”) for hemp-flavored vodka, from Mill Six’s hemp, white tea and ginger flavored vodka to Olde Imperial Mystic’s hemp infused vodka. Distillers have designed labels with green smoke-like images and psychedelic sixties-style lettering to hint at their cultural connection...
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Government Affairs Extra | Craft Beer and Marijuana
By McDermott Will & Emery and McDermott Will & Emery on Nov 21, 2017
Posted In Advertising and Marketing, Cannabis, Food Safety and FDA, Legislation, TTB COLAs and Formulas
It’s hard to deny that marijuana has a cultural connection with craft beer, or at least with substantial segments of the craft brewing community. Many craft brewers have signaled to their fans that they know a thing or two about the rituals and lingo of marijuana consumption. But with the legalization of recreational cannabis by...
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Ruling in the Asahi Beer Class Action
By McDermott Will & Emery on Nov 13, 2017
Posted In Advertising and Marketing, TTB COLAs and Formulas
Last month the US District Court for the Central District of California issued an order in the Shalikar v. Asahi Beer U.S.A., Inc. false advertising class action case. Like many similar cases, Shalikar alleges that the plaintiffs, as representatives of a purported class of consumers, were deceived into paying more for Asahi beer because they...
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Implications of Recent Supreme Court Free Speech Decision
By Eleanor B. Atkins and McDermott Will & Emery on Nov 1, 2017
Posted In Advertising and Marketing, TTB COLAs and Formulas
On June 19, 2017, the Supreme Court issued its decision in Matal v. Tam, declaring the Trademark Act’s (commonly referred to as the “Lanham Act”) “disparagement clause” unconstitutional as a violation of the free speech principles embodied in the First Amendment. If the case name doesn’t ring a bell, the players involved might. The decision...
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Massachusetts Court Upholds Record $2.6M Fine against Beer Distributor
By McDermott Will & Emery on Oct 23, 2017
Posted In Trade Practices
Earlier this month, a Massachusetts state trial court judge issued a decision in the matter of Craft Beer Guild LLC d/b/a Craft Brewers Guild v. Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission. The court upheld a decision by the Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission (ABCC) finding violations of Massachusetts’ trade practice laws by a large beer distributor. The case...
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Texas Court of Appeals Reverses T.G.I. Friday’s Label Decision
By McDermott Will & Emery on Oct 16, 2017
Posted In Advertising and Marketing, Trade Practices
On Friday, October 13, 2017, a Texas Court of Appeals handed down the long-awaited decision in Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission v. Mark Anthony Brewing, Inc., No. 03-16-00039-CV. The case involves Texas’ ban on private-label malt beverage/beer labels, which appear in regulations that are one aspect of the state’s comprehensive tied-house laws. Mark Anthony Brewing sought...
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