Diageo settles Stitzel-Weller trademark lawsuit

Diageo North America has settled a trademark lawsuit with a US-based spirits distributor over products bearing the name of its historic Stitzel-Weller Bourbon distillery.

Diageo North America has settled a trademark lawsuit over product that bear the name of its Stitzel-Weller distillery

Allied Lomar started legal action against Diageo in 2015, arguing that the group’s Blade and Bow Bourbon brand and other products citing the Stitzel-Weller name breached trademark law.

Allied said it first registered the Stitzel trademark for distilled spirits in 2004, adding that some distributors are refusing to sell its Stitzel-branded products due to the same name used in Diageo’s range.

However, Diageo’s legal representative argued consumer confusion cannot be proved since Allied’s Stitzel products are not sold in the United States.

A California-based judge allowed the lawsuit to proceed in January this year, despite Diageo’s bid to have it thrown out of court.

Now, Law360 reports that both parties have agreed to drop the lawsuit after reaching an undisclosed settlement and agreeing to cover their own legal costs.

A spokesperson from Diageo told The Spirits Business: “The parties have settled this case amicably on mutually accepted terms.”

The group reopened the Louisville-based Stitzel-Weller distillery in 2014 with an investment of more than US$10 million. The site first opened in 1935, but was mothballed in 1992.

The distillery underwent extensive renovation and now houses the Bulleit Frontier Whiskey experience, where Diageo showcases its Bourbon brands, including Bulleit Bourbon and the Orphan Barrel range of whiskeys. It also includes a new bottling line, on-site finishing centre and a small batch craft still.

Diageo’s Blade and Bow Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, launched in May 2015, “pays homage” to Stitzel-Weller.