Guns N’ Roses Sues Brewery Over Merch, Beer With Similar Name

Two weeks ago, we chronicled how Guns N’ Roses is hoping to give moms across the land a rocking Mother’s Day through holiday-specific merchandise. The Hall of Fame band, though, also has a mean streak, and it is looking to put its “appetite for destruction” to good use due to a brewery whose Guns ‘N’ Rose ale and accompanying merch line it feels renders the overseers guilty of trademark infringement.

Guns-n-Rose bands together sticky prickly pear and floral hibiscus with a subtle hop profile in this refreshing, crisp AF rose’ ale. Available on draft, in select markets now, and we’ll be droppin cans in February. Check below to find it near you.https://t.co/8N7ATICd9K pic.twitter.com/QJWmBbiv53

— Oskar Blues Brewery (@oskarblues) November 8, 2018

If the Axl Rose-led rockers have their way, it will not be “paradise city” for the Canarchy Craft Brewery Collective, which has sold the aforementioned potable in canned and keg form since last year. The Hollywood Reporter noted that the Colorado entity has acknowledged a Guns N’ Roses-issued managerial request to stop selling the drink, but The Blast notes that the defendant has stated that it will not suspend commercial transactions until March of next year. That statement, then, leaves the public, according to the plaintiffs’ legal representation, 10 more months to associate the ale with the band, a link that does not exist.

Along with the beverage, Canarchy is earning part of its revenue through merchandise, including buttons, hats and T-shirts that correspond with the beer. Throughout its 23-page lawsuit against the brewery, Guns N’ Roses offers a details account of how it came to reach superstardom and makes quite evident what it would like to have happen to the supposed trademark-violating products.

The Hollywood Reporter mentions that Canarchy, doing business as Oskar Blues Brewery, had yet to respond to a request for comments on the matter, so one would have to think that its owners are carefully pondering how they will counter the clout that their legal foes have attained. As we have often discovered, trademark cases can represent a huge strain on businesses’ bank accounts, especially when one litigant has a higher profile than its adversary.

In this case, Guns N’ Roses clearly has the name recognition, and the fact that Canarchy, according to the aforementioned publications, had already agreed to stop selling the beer and merchandise, while retaining its hopes for a trademark, means that the plaintiff already seems to have a prosecutorial edge. Since Guns N’ Roses’ attorneys filed their gripe only yesterday, we do not expect for this to end soon, giving us more time to wonder why anyone would ever issue a logo, emblem, symbol, product, etc. that would even remotely have a resemblance to something well-known. Yes, some lawsuits seem ludicrous in nature, but others appear spot-on. This Guns N’ Roses incident feels like it falls in the latter column, so Canarchy would very well be headed toward receiving the legal version of a skunky beer to handle.