trade·mark
ˈtrādˌmärk/
noun
plural noun: trademarks
- 1.a symbol, word, or words legally registered or established by use as representing a company or product.
"The
"relatedness" of the goods offered under dueling trademarks is one of
the key considerations when a court or the trademark office is weighing if
they're confusingly similar to each other. And it isn't as simple as whether
liquor and wine are the same product; courts are instead weighing the more
nuanced question of whether consumers might think the two different bottles
came from the same company."
"Consistent
with trademark law in general, the stronger the mark, the stronger the scope of
protection," said Thomas J. Maas, an attorney with Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP
and an expert in beverage industry law. "But we are seeing decisions from
the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board and from federal district courts finding a
likelihood of confusion even when the marks are used with different types of
beverages."
"Whether
you are a brewer, a distiller or a vintner, beware that limiting your trademark
clearance search to a specific type of beverage might end up causing more
headaches down the road," Maas said.
The trademark issue is one of strong importance to many people and it seems to be equally strong between different categories of alcohols. I've seen the results of this in the misuse of cocktails as well as brands of spirits, beers and wines. I really don't know the answer to this, but that is what the office of trademarks and the courts are for to figure out what is really confusing to all of us "stupid Americans" who can't tell a cocktail from a beer, from a wine, from rum. This is a really complicated thing. It wastes millions of dollars and ties up the courts over stuff that I really have to question to what end it is really gaining. ;o) 
