SAN DIEGO (CN) — A trial in a trademark dispute in which one of the top independent brewers in the U.S. accuses economy beer brand MillerCoors of watering down its brand by revamping Keystone lager to steal craft beer customers began Monday.
“What is in a name? What is a name worth?” Stone Brewing attorney Noah Hagey asked nine jurors during opening statements in the federal trial that is scheduled to last three weeks. U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez is presiding over the case.
Hagey showed jurors and the courtroom packed with Stone Brewing employees and supporters wearing company branded T-shirts beer bottle “artifacts” from the 1990s containing the Stone name and trademark, which it applied for in 1996.
“The reason we’re here is because of a terrible decline in Stone’s business," he said. "The jury will have to decide whether Stone deserves to be saved, whether its name deserves to be saved and protected.”
Stone Brewing sued MillerCoors in 2018 claiming the company rebranded its 30-year-old economy beer brand Keystone Light in spring 2017 to cash in on Stone Brewing’s commercial success as one of the preeminent craft beer companies.
The company had seen a nearly $100 million decline in Keystone Light sales between 2011 and 2016 and MillerCoors was concerned the losses might “take down” the company’s other beer brands that were more expensive to produce, Hagey said.
So it revamped its image.
MillerCoors’ “Own the ‘Stone” advertising campaign and new packaging separated “key” from “stone” — named for the Colorado mountain resort — in favor of emphasizing the word “stone,” according to the craft brewer’s trial brief.
Even after Stone Brewing filed the trademark lawsuit challenging the advertising campaign, MillerCoors continued referring to its Keystone Light beer as “stones” and “stone” in its ads.
Hagey showed the jury a screenshot he said was taken Monday morning of the Keystone Light website which said, “Grab a Stone.”
The plaintiff claims beer drinkers and the stores that stocked the beverages were confused by the rebranding and that it caused the demise of Stone’s 20 years of continuous growth.
In the five years since Keystone rebranded, Stone Brewing’s business has decreased 20%, or $174 million Hagey said.
Hagey gave a preview in court of evidence he said showed consumers believed Keystone was made by Stone Brewing.
Among the evidence was a video of a focus group conducted by Stone where shoppers said they would purchase Keystone from the store if a friend had asked them to buy Stone IPA beer.
Screenshots of social media users’ comments wondering if MillerCoors had purchased Stone Brewing after its Keystone rebranding were also shown to the jury.
One photo of a grocery store shelf stocked with Keystone Light included a sign that noted the beer was not associated with Stone Brewing, further bolstering the craft brewer’s contention MillerCoors had caused market confusion.
“Stone owns that name, it should not be having to tell the market and consumers ‘don’t be confused,’” Hagey said.
But MillerCoors attorney Jonathan Bunge pointed to blue cardboard Keystone Light cartons during his opening statement arguing consumers are not confused by rebranding of the budget beer.
“Every single package of Keystone Light, since 1989, had the words ‘Keystone Light,’” Bunge said.
“We’re not trying to masquerade, we want people to buy Keystone Light because we’re proud of our beer and we’ve been proud of it since 1989,” he added.
Bunge said consumers could not confuse the two products due to the stark differences in branding, with Stone Brewing’s “ubiquitous” gargoyle flanked by beer hops featured in its packaging.
“The products are not remotely in the same price range,” Bunge said, noting Keystone Light costs one-fifth of Stone Brewing’s beers.
More than half of Keystone Light customers are not working, Bunge said, while 25% of its customers make less than $30,000.
“We’re not marketing to the same people, these are different beers sold to different people,” he added.
Bunge will continue giving his opening statement in the case Tuesday morning.
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