That swashbuckling rum drinker Captain Morgan is facing some rough legal waters, as another company is suing its parent company, claiming it pirated a pouch cocktail design. Pirated! See how funny that is because he’s a pirate and he takes what he wants and now… I mean, you get it! I know you do. As our tipster writes, “In other news, water is wet.”
According to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, American Beverage Corp. filed a federal trademark lawsuit yesterday, claiming Diageo plc, which owns Captain Morgan, copied its single-serve frozen cocktails design. Pouch Pac Innovations LLC joins American Beverage on the lawsuit.
The suit claims that it has been selling pouched Daily’s Cocktails since 2005, and that Captain Morgan’s Parrot Bay Cocktails, which are set to be marketed in a similar pouch, takes advantage of the brand recognition ABC has developed over the last seven years.
They’re totally different, right? One says “Freeze and Enjoy” and the other tells one to “Freeze and Squeeze.”
In any case, who has a thirst for a Capri Sun right about now? Mmm, pouch liquid.
Verona company claims Captain Morgan parent prirated its pouch cocktail design [Tribune-Review]
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Hmmmm, there’s more than one way to squeeze a pirate’s pouch….but be gentle!
arrrr
This pouch design isn’t even original to either product. Many other products are out there with a pouch like this. I don’t think anyone can make an argument that “freeze and squeeze” infringes on “freeze and enjoy.”
“You wouldn’t download rum, would you?”
I would if I could! Would that be a CaptainMorgan.rum file?
It’d be streaming with a large buffer
Yeah, but what sort of I/O flow rate are you getting on the front and back ends?
(sorry, couldn’t resist)
Sorry, I’ve edited the hosts file so “rum” points to “whisky”.
So… you switched from rum to whisky? Take it away, boys: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qsl6YbE_as0
The Daily’s are pretty darn good. And at $2, you can’t beat the price.
Don’t mix rum and tequila, Captain Morgan’s a racist.
Really? Its bad enough what BS is going on in Tech patents and the courts but now “pouchs” are protected?
I guess a TV makers should sue since other TVs are rectangle like theirs.
Too late, Apple has already patented the rectangle.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/04/01/apple_patent/
So basically Apple is just becomming a Patent Troll company. Well… that’s one way to diversify….
Read the article. Especially the bold text at the very beginning where it says “April Fool”. That and the fact that it was published on 4/1
Yes, packaging does have IP rights. Try packing a laptop or portable music device using the same methods used by Apple and see what happens…
http://www.apple.com/legal/trademark/trademark.html
http://www.apple.com/legal/trademark/guidelinesfor3rdparties.html
Search package or packaging…
Sir Henry Morgan was technically a privateer, not a pirate.
For the English, yes, but to the Spanish, there was no difference. English privateers and unaffiliated pirates behaved exactly the same way in regards to Spanish treasure ships.
Didn’t the Spanish privateers do the same to the Dutch and English transport and treasure ships?
At least that’s what Sid Meier taught me.
(Wonder how much Pirates is going for these days. Might be worth $10 to play that one again.)
The porn flick?
I have that game! I still play it! I bought a laptop with a number pad on it SPECIFICALLY for this game!
/loser
Abandonware sites are your friends. You’ll be amazed how many good games you can get for free now. Games back then had to focus on being fun, which is why they are still fun today. But of course, Sid Meier is still a gaming genius.
Oh, and regarding old games. Google Maps is available for the old NES now. Happy days!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=rznYifPHxDg
The new(ish) one is actually pretty good and works on most computers.
I lost my old copy, so about a year ago I pirated Pirates.
Wow I love that slogan..: “Alcohol is in it!”
Well, it’d be easy to confuse them with mixers that contain no alcohol.
They have a case only if the package is NEW and REVOLUTIONARY!!!
In other news, the German state-owned Weihenstephan brewery in the city of Freising, Bavaria (wikipedia ftw) is suing every beer manufacturer ever. The suit claims that as the oldest brewery, it has been selling beer since 1040, and that every other brewery is taking advantage of the brand recognition they’ve developed over the last 972 years. The suit aims to prevent breweries from using “kegs, vats, or barrels” to store their beer, and to prevent any advertising using “drinking glasses included but not limited to steins, mugs, and pint glasses”.
Yeah, my first thought was the decendants of whoever made the first wineskin should sue them both!
They fail the brand association test with trademarks.
When someone thinks of kegs, steins, mugs, etc. do they think of this company? The answer is no, and in fact they think of no particular brand. So that trademark is unenforcable.
The joke being, of course, that the same can be said of this company’s lawsuit.
Also you can’t trademark a type of vessel. You can trademark a shape, something unique, arguably a material (though you’d be hard pressed), but you can’t say “Hey, we’ve got pouches, nobody else can have ‘em”. The package design of these pouches is as different as frozen beverage pouches can reasonably be (crisper corners, less of a dent in the side, totally different art design). Nobody’s going to buy one thinking its the other, any more than buying “kroger brand” mayonnaise in a jar with a blue lid will confuse those looking for Hellman’s (which, incidentally, is apparently the same company as Best Foods out west, which I still think is weird).
Helmann’s was made on the East Coast, and Best Foods was made on the West Coast. Then Best Foods bought Helmann’s, but because the brand recognition was so large for both of them they kept the mayo’s separate.
Then Best Foods was bought by some corn company and, I guess, they decided to keep it the same way. And through the name changes, company split, and, finally, the Unilever take over.
They’re just butthurt because they didn’t come up with the superior slogan first.
This should’ve gone to Arrrrrrbitration.
sigh
+1
Ironically, I’m just now enjoying my first one of these. I have to say, great idea, but the actual reality of it isn’t there. I need a spoon for my daiquiri. Also, brain freeze! I’m drinking the “pirated” version, btw.
They’d better not start serving these at Ruby Tuesdays, or there are going to be a LOT more lawsuits…
Who who has the copyright for drinking beer out of a can or a bottle?
It’s Miller time!
Gosh, what cannot be sued besides the IRS.
Not to be a liquor snob, but considering most of these concoctions do not even have the correct liquors (Dailys Strawberry Daquiri pouch has “wine” in it as its alcohol) and are very low proof,a much better quality drink can be had from scratch with just a handful of bar staples…..
I’ve been referring to boxed wine as “juice boxes for adults” for years now…and now we have juice pouches for adults.
Maybe we’ll see a lawsuit from Caprisun next, since they’ve been using the pouch design for 20+ years now.
Actually, I saw a Parrot Bay Pouch the other day and thought of the Daily’s I’ve seen before. These are popping up a lot now. So I guess I can see why Daily’s is a little peeved. In addition, look at where all the text, logos and slogans are strategically placed. The name is at the top. “Freeze and Enjoy” and “Freeze and Squeeze” are both placed in the same area near the top. The name of the company is slightly lower than that. The logos of the fruit or drinks are in the middle. The “alcohol” slogans are nearly in the same place. The type of frozen beverage is near the bottom.
Parrot Bay could have avoided some confusion if they simply changed the design of the graphics and placement of the text. Instead it does appear that Daily’s was copied. But I’m no judge…I’ll let the legal system decide.
However, imitation is the best form of flattery. These days, who isn’t copying another persons idea.