Stone Brewing Files Suit Against MillerCoors
Stone Brewing has filed a lawsuit against MillerCoors, alleging that the Keystone line of beers has infringed on the San Diego craft brewery’s “Stone” trademark.
The complaint was filed yesterday in the U.S. district court of Southern California. Stone Brewing claims that MillerCoors is purposely trying to “steal the consumer loyalty” by highlighting the single word “Stone” on new Keystone packages. The recently rebranded Keystone packaging and promotional materials prominently feature the word “Stone.”
Stone Brewing Company released a four-plus minute video yesterday with Stone co-founder Greg Koch describing in the detail the reasoning behind the lawsuit. Greg describes how the Keystone imagery is deliberately intended to cause confusion with Stone’s name within the marketplace.
In a statement, MillerCoors spokesman Marty Maloney called the suit and video a “clever publicity stunt.”
