‘Brugse Zot’ reaches a mutual settlement with American brewer…
‘Brugse Zot’ reaches a mutual settlement with American brewer…
In 2005 new life was breathed into the ‘De Halve Maan’ family brewery in Bruges with the launching of a new beer: the ‘Brugse Zot’. This launch also marked the arrival in the company of Xavier Vanneste – this sixth generation of his family to take up the traditional family profession. The name ‘Brugse Zot’ refers to the nickname given to the people of Bruges, and is based on an ancient legend. Right from the very beginning, ‘Brugse Zot’ was a huge success with the beer-drinking public. The annual growth in sales was impressive and the beer won several prestigious prizes at international beer festivals. Since 2006 ‘Brugse Zot’ has also been successfully exported to the United States, through the Global Beer Network.
Belgian beer is becoming increasingly popular in the USA, so that many American companies have started brewing their own Belgian-style beer. In 2009 the local Weyerbacher brewery from Easton (Pennsylvania) started to market a Belgian-style beer under the name ‘Zotten’. This name refers to the same ancient legend which inspired the name of the ‘Brugse Zot’. The bottle label also bore a strong similarity to its illustrious Belgian counterpart. It later became apparent that the American brewers had visited Bruges in 2006 and had been much impressed by the ‘Brugse Zot’…
This was more than sufficient to prove that there had been an infringement of the trade-mark rights of the popular ‘Brugse Zot’. Fortunately, the ‘De Halve Maan’ brewery had properly protected these rights, through an international registration which is also valid in the United States. For this reason, the Bruges’ brewer felt obliged to take action against the American variant of its ‘Brugse Zot’ beer.
Happily, both brewers were soon able to reach a mutually-acceptable agreement. The American company acknowledges its infringement of trade-mark rights. The ‘Zotten’ beer brewed by Weyerbacher has been withdrawn from the market and previously distributed stocks are being recalled. Weyerbacher unreservedly recognises the validity of the world-wide registration taken out by ‘De Halve Maan’ brewery, and has apologised to the Belgian brewing family by issuing the following press release:
“Weyerbacher Brewing Company, Inc, a small artisanal brewery from Easton, Pennsylvania, has ceased production of its beer ‘Zotten’, due to prior rights and US trademark of ‘Brugse Zot’, a beer produced and commercialized by De Halve Maan, a brewery located in Bruges, Belgium. We take this opportunity also to announce a recall of any and all Weyerbacher ‘Zotten’ beer to the brewery within the next 30 days, for full refund from Weyerbacher. Weyerbacher was unaware of the US trademark of De Halve Maan and had no intention to infringe on the rights of De Halve Maan. We are particularly respectful of the part played by small Belgian breweries in the world beer scene and hereby officially apologize to the family owners of De Halve Maan. Daniel A. Weirback, President of Weyerbacher Brewing Company, Inc.”
