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Sazerac objects to KDA Bourbon trademark bid
Sazerac, owner of the Buffalo Trace Distillery, has objected to the Kentucky Distillers’ Association’s (KDA) attempt to register the Drink Kentucky Bourbon trademark.
Buffalo Trade owner Sazerac has objected to the KDA’s bid to register the Drink Kentucky Bourbon trademark
According to Law 360, the KDA, which founded the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, filed an application to register the trademark through its third party merchandising company last summer.
While the trademark was published last year, Sazerac formally registered its objection with the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) last week, claiming the trademark would be a “generic or merely descriptive phrase […] that no one owner should control”.
The firm added that “everyone offering a Kentucky Bourbon” should be able to use the phrase “freely in the promotion of those goods”.
In 2011, Sazerac and the KDA settled a previous dispute over the Kentucky Bourbon Trail trademark, bringing an end to its 12 month litigation. Sazerac, which is not a member of the KDA, owns the Buffalo Trace, Blantons, George T. Stagg, and Pappy Van Winkle Bourbon brands.
The group declined to comment with regards to its recent trademark objection, while the KDA could not be immediately reached for comment.
It was announced last year that Sazerac planned to spend US$71 million expanding its Buffalo Trace, The Glenmore and Barton 1792 distilleries in an attempt to meet soaring demand for Bourbon.