(Lexington, KY) – The latest from West Sixth Brewing on its ongoing battle with Magic Hat Brewing, courtesy of a new Facebook post…
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Friends-thanks to your help, Cerveceria Costa Rica / North American Breweries / Magic Hat is listening!
Despite the public outrage over their heavy-handed tactics, they rejected our offer, now claiming that they are due additional damages because of the outrage you’ve expressed. They don’t seem to realize that you all are angry about their bullying lawsuit, not our Facebook posts!
That said, we do have some good news – because of the pressure you all applied, they’ve also agreed to go into a mediation session with a magistrate judge. This will likely happen over the next week or so. We have no idea whether or not they’re willing to start at a reasonable place, since they still won’t tell us any settlement terms they would accept. While this makes us extremely cautious, we’re hopeful that they’re going into it in good faith and that this is not just a stall tactic.
At the same time, however, they’ve amended their lawsuit to up the stakes by including additional charges of “defamation” and “false advertising”, accusing us of lying throughout our posts online. They’re also contacting distributors and individuals throughout the country accusing us of lying. And now they’ve asked the court for an injunction for “immediate relief” against our public communications because they realize they have a lot to lose from the public hearing the truth about their legal tactics.
This will hopefully be our last post on this subject until after mediation. We’re eager to start talking about more fun topics – like the re-release of our tasty Pay-it-Forward Porter this Friday!
Thank you again for all the support. We couldn’t be more appreciative of all the kind words we’ve received, both publicly and privately, as well as all the support you’ve provided by buying our beer when you’re out and about.
You people are delusional
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WSB is going to lose this lawsuit, and they should. I haven’t had a drop of Magic Hat’s been in years and I’m no fan of lawsuits over things that can be settled out of a courtroom, but MH has a point here that WSB seems to be totally missing. The logo is way too similar. It should have never made it past the design stage.
@Eric – Your comment is the first in the thread so who is “you people?”
@ Nick: I disagree 100%. No rational, reasonable adult should confuse these two on a store shelf. Different fonts, different colors, clearly indicated brewery names on both… the list of differences and individual characteristics is lengthy.
If WSB loses it will be because they don’t have the same access to legal machinery (i.e. a much smaller bank account) as MH does, forcing them to give in.
A good step; mediation. However, judges are not mediators and are not trained as such. Perhaps this particular one is, I don’t know who her/him. The mistake many people make is to assume those in the legal profession are seasoned mediators. I hope I’m wrong for this situation, but it sounds more like arbitration instead. And hopefully this will not go to court.
“If WSB loses it will be because they don’t have the same access to legal machinery”
Please, do some research before you spout ridiculous things like that. One of the owners of West Sixth is Ben Self. You can read more here http://www.benself.com/about/ if you want to be a little more informed about this “Mom and Pop” brewery.
WSB …..is right on the Money…. Lawsuit for what…. The logos areNOTHING ALIKE…..LOOKAT IT CAN’T YOU SEE IT a 6;a9 Not the same How How How can you confuse them and say it’s Magic Hats logo….the winner will be WSB
Just drink beer. Choose for yourself if you’be been ripped-off. Good luck consumers. Beware of the corporate lurkings…
I think the big thing saving WSB right now is that the two breweries are arguing over a number. In my limited legal opinion, which is to essentially say totally amateur, a six is not a nine. Even upside down – it’s still a six. If it were some other generic symbol and not a specific number that appeared to be as similar as the logos do when WSB’s is upside down, I think WSB might be in trouble. But it’s not. It’s a number.
I agree with @ nick 101%. I’m not into brewery lawsuits. I’m not into Magic Hat. Fact is, this logo is way to similar. What was West Sixth thinking? Perhaps, they wanted this exact situation??? How many twitter followers have they increased? How many facebook friends have they increased? How many thousands, hundred of thousands, millions when all said and done (?), of dollars in publicity are they receiving for little to no cost?
I think one important point people are missing is this… Yes, if you stare at the logos you can tell one is a 6 and one is a 9. However, if you “walk by” they are both Magic Hat.
Btw – I am not the “delusional” poster above.
Good to see the MH sockpuppets out in force. How’s that persona management working for you?
@Action Jackson Just because Mr.Self has been personally successful in no way reflects what the financial standing of a start up business he is a co-founder of is.
If I am correct in assuming, Eric is referring to WSB. He is correct, they are delusional in thinking they can win this lawsuit. MH is just protecting their trademark or brand. WSB shouldn’t be so arrogant in thinking the court of public opinion (on their facebook page) which is getting media coverage from local and regional reporters is changing the landscape of this lawsuit. Totally different ball field…Courtroom, which has a tendency to side with evidence.
I’m guessing the delusional ones are WestSixth. You’d think that after having claims of defamation added to the suit, they’d stop running their mouths…. guess noone there is that smart. This is going to be fun to watch, the mouthy brewers at WSB are going to talk themselves right into a judgement in favor of Magic Hat.
U people are idiots do you confuse any other numbers in your life , OMFG a 6 and a 9 are 2 different numbers and that’s a 2 not to be confused with a 7 for u magic hat people. Do u miss manage your money if y’all are so easily confused . You have a whopper and a Big Mac both burgers but from two different people I’m going to sue cause they are the same.
Even better example tires Goodyear makes a tire. BFG makes a tire both round and black and both on display at store, how do I know who makes what I’m so confused , are they the same , Aaaaaahhhhhh where’s a lawyer
At the very least they (WSB) needs to remove the dingbat/starburst – that little detail is the give away that their “graphic artist” stole/plagiarized Magic Hat’s logo. I haven’t had a Magic Hat product since the 90’s – so please don’t accuse me of “drinking the proverbial Kool Aid/ #9”
Let’s just say for the sake of the argument that the guys who started WSB had never heard of Magic Hat….then they should squarely put the blame on their artist who apparently couldn’t come up with an original concept on his/her own.
With that said – I do believe you can distinguish the two products from each other. I believe that Magic Hat doesn’t give consumers enough credit to be able to differentiate the differences….but at the same time they have a right to protect their identity and according to TM laws an obligation to do so. I’ve heard different accounts of whether or not their logo was TM prior to this hoopla – I would find it hard to believe that it wasn’t.
@Adam Nason West Sixth…
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