THE ESTATE of Elvis Presley has been thwarted in a last-ditch attempt to block BrewDog from using the late singer’s name in one of its beers.
Last month the UK Intellectual Property Office said the Aberdeenshire craft-beer firm could continue calling its grapefruit-flavoured American IPA BrewDog Elvis Juice but banned it from using the words Elvis Juice on their own.
The decision came after the brewer appealed an earlier ruling that found in favour of Elvis Presley Enterprises (EPE), which had tried to stop it from using both names.
EPE, which manages the singer’s former Graceland home and licenses Elvis-related products, had opposed BrewDog’s trademark applications on the basis that consumers would assume EPE also produced the beer.
The lawyer overseeing the appeal, appointed person Phillip Johnson, agreed that this might be the case for the name Elvis Juice, but he stressed that “the average consumer will not mistake BrewDog Elvis Juice for Elvis”.
While Mr Johnson’s decision in the matter was final, EPE attempted to have him reconsider his findings after spotting that he had mistakenly referred to a hearing officer as a witness in his written judgment.
In a further written decision Mr Johnson said it is possible for an appeal to be reconsidered in “exceptional circumstances”, but added that did not apply in this case because the mistake did not influence his decision.
“As I am dismissing the request on the basis that the mistake identified is not material, I do not need to explore the extent of this jurisdiction any further.” he said. “My (mistaken) comment regarding that case was simply there to reinforce my previous conclusion.”
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