Summit Brewing v Grand Lake Brewing - Summit Pale Ale Trademark Complaint

  4825-0455-96501   THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLORADO SUMMIT BREWING COMPANY, Plaintiff, v THE GRAND LAKE BREWING COMPANY, LLC, Defendant ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) Case No 15-cv-00440 (_______) COMPLAINT AND JURY DEMAND Plaintiff Summit Brewing Company (“Summit”) for its Complaint against Defendant The Grand Lake Brewing Company, LLC (“Grand Lake”), states and alleges as follows: 1   Plaintiff Summit is a Minnesota corporation with its principal place of business in St Paul, Minnesota Summit is, among other things, in the business of producing and selling  beer 2   Defendant Grand Lake is, upon information and belief, a Colorado corporation with its principal place of business in Grand Lake, Colorado Grand Lake is engaged in the  business of, among other things, producing and selling beer  JURISDICTION AND VENUE 3   The subject matter is based on 28 USC §§ 1331 and 1338, and 15 USC § 1121(a) This action arises under 15 USC §§ 1114, 1116 and 1125, and deceptive trade  practices in violation of Colorado law Case 1:15-cv-00440-NYW Document 1 Filed 03/03/15 USDC Colorado Page 1 of 7  4825-0455-96501  4   This Court has subject matter jurisdiction over the Plaintiff’s claims under 28 USC §§ 1331, 1338 and 1367 Venue in this district is proper pursuant to 28 USC §§ 1391(b) and 1391(c) UNDERLYING FACTS 5   Since 1986, Summit has produced and sold beer under its SUMMIT mark During Summit’s 29 year history, SUMMIT beer has been distributed and sold in approximately twenty states throughout the Midwest and northeastern United States During parts of Summit’s 29 year history, it has distributed its SUMMIT marked beers in Colorado Summit has also  participated in competitions and tastings in Colorado, the most prominent of which is the Great American Beer Festival, which is held annually in Colorado 6   Presently, Summit produces and markets seven beers year round under the SUMMIT mark, five seasonal beers under the SUMMIT mark as well as various limited release  products under the SUMMIT mark These SUMMIT marked beers include, but are not limited to, SUMMIT Extra Pale Ale, SUMMIT Pilsener, SUMMIT True Brit IPA, SUMMIT Great  Northern Porter, SUMMIT Horizon Red IPA, SUMMIT Sága IPA, SUMMIT Frost Line Rye, SUMMIT Maibock, SUMMIT Summer Ale, SUMMIT Oktoberfest, SUMMIT Winter Ale, SUMMIT Unchained Series, SUMMIT Union Series, and SUMMIT Oatmeal Stout As of 2013, Summit ranked 32nd in United States for domestic commercial beer sales 7   Summit owns United States trademark registrations for SUMMIT BREWING COMPANY (Reg No 3,061,466) in International Class 32 for beer, SUMMIT BREWING COMPANY (Reg No 3,061,467) in International Class 32 for beer, and design and word mark for SUMMIT BREWING CO (Reg No 4,517,565) in International Class 32 for beer Case 1:15-cv-00440-NYW Document 1 Filed 03/03/15 USDC Colorado Page 2 of 7  4825-0455-96501  8   Summit has spent millions of dollars advertising and promoting its beer under the mark SUMMIT Summit has won multiple national and regional awards for beers it has sold under the SUMMIT mark 9   In or about late November or early December 2014, a Colorado resident notified Summit that Grand Lake was selling a beer under mark SUMMIT pale ale 10   A review of Grand Lake’s website at wwwgrandlakebrewingcom shows it is selling a beer under the brand SUMMIT Pale Ale (A true and correct copy of a webpage from Grand Lakes’ website is attached hereto as Exhibit A) The label features the mark SUMMIT as the most prominent wording on the label The webpage goes on to indicate which liquor stores are currently selling “Summit Colorado Pale Ale” (A true and correct copy of the SUMMIT Colorado Pale Ale titled webpage from Grand Lakes’ website is attached hereto as Exhibit B) 11   On or about December 4, 2014, Mark Stutrud, the president of Summit, contacted Karen Wood of Grand Lake to express concern about the confusion likely to be caused by Grand Lake’s use of the well-known SUMMIT mark Wood informed Stutrud that his concerns were “silly” but promised to contact its attorney and call him back Summit received no response 12   After receiving no response from Grand Lake, Summit’s counsel followed up with correspondence to Wood dated January 8, 2015 and January 21, 2015 regarding Summit’s concerns regarding Grand Lake’s using the SUMMIT mark (a true and correct copy of Summit’s counsel’s correspondence dated January 8, 2015 and January 21, 2015 are attached hereto as Exhibit C) To date, Grand Lake has not responded to Summit’s concerns regarding the use of the SUMMIT mark on Grand Lake’s beer and Summit has been given no assurances that Grand Lake will cease using the SUMMIT mark on its beers FIRST CAUSE OF ACTION (Infringement of Registered Trademark) Case 1:15-cv-00440-NYW Document 1 Filed 03/03/15 USDC Colorado Page 3 of 7