News Alert: Appeals Court Upholds Diageo Win In Bulleit-Redemption Trademark Battle

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld a previous ruling that Deutsch Family’s Redemption whiskey packaging is too similar to that of Diageo’s Bulleit and therefore dilutes the latter’s trademark.

A three-judge panel found today that despite Deutsch’s claims in oral arguments that Bulleit lacks the “household name” recognition needed to justify the ruling that its trademark was diluted, Diageo had shown sufficient evidence to justify its claim, Reuters reported.

Under the original lawsuit, which Diageo filed in 2017, the drinks giant claimed that Deutsch’s 2016 packaging revamp for Redemption resulted in a look that infringed on Bulleit’s trademark. Then, in fall of 2022, federal court Judge Louis Stanton ruled that Deutsch must redesign Redemption’s bottle so that it conveys “a substantially different commercial impression.”

After that ruling, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit denied a motion by Deutsch that would have allowed Redemption to keep selling in its current packaging pending this larger appeal on the merits of the trademark dispute.

According to Impact Databank, Bulleit grew 3% to 1.75 million cases in the U.S. last year. Redemption slipped 13% to 100,000 cases. —Daniel Marsteller

Tagged : Bulleit, Deutch Family Wine & Spirits, Diageo, Redemption

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