Today San Diego's Stone Brewing filed suit to defend its STONE® brand against one of the world’s largest beer conglomerates - MillerCoors. Known for being the antithesis to "Big Beer," Stone's suit alleges that MillerCoors is trying to rebrand its Colorado Rockies-themed Keystone beer as "STONE."
"Keystone’s rebranding is no accident," said Stone Brewing CEO Dominic Engels. "MillerCoors tried to register our name years ago and was rejected. Now its marketing team is making 30-pack boxes stacked high with nothing but the word 'STONE' visible. Same for Keystone’s social media, which almost uniformly has dropped the 'Key.' We will not stand for this kind of overtly and aggressively deceptive advertising. Frankly, MillerCoor should be ashamed."
The Complaint alleges federal and state causes of action for unfair competition, trademark infringement and related claims. The craft beer pioneer feels that it has no choice but to combat MillerCoors’ aggressive marketing moves, which abandon Keystone’s own heritage by falsely associating with the true STONE of beer fame. Stone Brewing is represented in the lawsuit by Noah Hagey, Rebecca Horton and Toby Rowe of San Francisco litigation boutique BraunHagey & Borden LLP.
"For two decades our team and our fans together have given depth and meaning to the Stone brand," expressed Stone Brewing executive chairman & co-founder Greg Koch. "Our fans have come to trust us to deliver consistently fresh, high quality beer. They trust that we’ll do so in a way that’s ethical and betters our communities, our planet and the entirety of craft beer. By deliberately creating confusion in the marketplace, MillerCoors is threatening not only our legacy, but the ability for beer drinkers everywhere to make informed purchasing decisions."
Twice named as the "All-time Top Brewery on Planet Earth" by BeerAdvocate magazine, Stone Brewing continues to gain devotees, solidifying its commitment never to sell out to Big Beer. Meanwhile, according to Nielsen, the beer industry’s Domestic Premium category dipped four percent in 2017, equating to a $12.5 billion loss. Says Greg Koch, "No wonder MillerCoors is trying to misappropriate what it could not otherwise accomplish by itself."
Never one to miss an opportunity to poke fun at Big Beer and its consumers, Koch added with a laugh - "We all know Keystone is specifically designed to be as inexpensive, flavorless and watery as possible. We can’t have potential Stone drinkers thinking we make a *shudder* light beer. Or for our fans to think we sold out. MillerCoors needs to stop marketing its stuff using our good name."
Founded by Greg Koch and Steve Wagner in 1996, the groundbreaking San Diego-based Stone Brewing is the 9th largest craft brewer in the United States. Recognized as an award-winning, industry leader, Stone has been listed on the Inc. 500 | 5000 Fastest Growing Private Companies list 12 times. The multifaceted company is the first American craft brewer to independently build, own and operate their own brewery in Europe (Berlin, Germany), and also opened a production brewery in Richmond, Virginia in 2016.
For more information on Stone Brewing, visit stonebrewing.com and check out Greg Koch's video below about the lawsuite against MillerCoors.
