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Diageo, the world’s largest drinks conglomerate and owner of Bulleit, has lost its trademark dispute against Deutsch Family Wine & Spirits, owners of Redemption Whiskey.
Diageo claimed that Redemption Whiskey infringed on their Bulleit trademark in 2016, when Redemption revamped the bottle and label package of their products in a way that Diageo claimed too closely resembled Bulleit’s whiskeys. Diageo filed suit against Deutsch in 2017. The jury disagreed, deciding last week that consumers were unlikely to be confused by any similarities in the look of the two packaging designs. Diageo has therefore lost this lawsuit, and will collect none of the $21 million in damages the company sought.
The jury did find, however, that the similarities were enough that there was a “likelihood of dilution” for Bulleit’s brand. Diageo has announced they will use this as a basis for seeking a court order to force Deutsch to cease using their current packaging design, while Deutsch intends to appeal that particular finding. Furthermore, Deutsch maintains Diageo made fraudulent representations to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office when they originally applied for their packaging trademark registration.
