Pursuits
Maker’s Mark, PTO Search, Phony Wine: Intellectual Property
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The litigation lasted longer than the bourbon-aging process. Yesterday, more than nine years after the case was originally filed, a federal appellate court found that the signature red wax seal used on Maker’s Mark Distillery Inc.’s bourbon bottles is a valid trademark.
The Kentucky distillery, owned by Deerfield, Illinois-based Beam Inc., originally sued Diageo Plc, the world’s biggest liquor maker, in 2003, claiming Diageo’s Jose Cuervo infringed its trademark by using a red wax seal on bottles of tequila.