Court Rules That Blue Moon Is “Craft”

This from Evan Parent vs Miller Coors LLC:

According to Plaintiff, Blue Moon does not qualify as a “craft beer” because such beers are produced by “small, independent and traditional” craft breweries as defined by the Brewers Association, a trade organization for American craft brewers, and MillerCoors is not such a brewery. Id. at 15. More specifically, according to the Brewers Association, “[t]o qualify as an American craft brewer, a brewery must: (a) Produce less than 6 million barrels of beer annually; (b) Be less than 25 percent owned or controlled by a non-craft brewer; and (c) Make beer using only traditional or innovative brewing ingredients.”Id. Plaintiff alleges that MillerCoors produces more than 76 million barrels of beer on an annual basis. Id….

Plaintiff alleges that even though Blue Moon is not really a craft beer, MillerCoors engages in deceptive and misleading business practices to misrepresent it as a craft beer in order to capture a slice of the burgeoning craft beer market and “charge up to 50% more for Blue Moon beer than it charges for other MillerCoors products.” Id. at 15–16….

Defendant argues that the case should be dismissed because (1) MillerCoors’ use of the BMBC trade name falls within California’s “safe harbor” from liability under its consumer protection laws;(2) MillerCoors’ trade name and trademark registrations put Plaintiff on notice of its ownership and use of the BMBC trade name; (3) no reasonable consumer could have been misled by MillerCoors’ use of “craft beer” and “Artfully Crafted,” because there is no standard definition of “craft beer”; (4) Plaintiff failed to plead his claims with the requisite specificity; and (5) Plaintiff lacks standing to pursue injunctive relief because he has no intent to purchase Blue Moon beer in the future. Def. Mot. 9–10...

The Court will grant Plaintiff leave to amend in order to cure the deficiencies - 16 - 3:15-cv-1204-GPC-WVG Case 3:15­cv­01204­GPC­WVG   Document 15   Filed 10/22/15   Page 16 of 17 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 identified in the complaint. The Court does not find it impossible that the Plaintiff could allege other facts as to MillerCoors’ advertising or sales practices that would support their claimthat MillerCoors deceptively ormisleadingly representsBlue Moon as a craft beer. However, the Court cautions that the Plaintiff cannot rely on MillerCoors’ use of the BCBM trade name in Blue Moon’s label or packaging for their consumer protection claims. Nor, standing alone, is MillerCoors’ use of the “Artfully Crafted” trademark sufficient.

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