A Tennessee Whiskey Distillery Protects its Trademarks Effectively without Leaving any Aftertaste

2013-07-11

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ATENNESSEEWHISKEYDISTILLERYPROTECTSITSTRADEMARKS
EFFECTIVELYWITHOUTLEAVINGANYAFTERTASTE

VINCENTBERGERON*
ROBIC,
LLP
L
AWYERS,PATENTANDTRADE-MARKAGENTS

TheAmericandistilleryJackDaniel’siswell-knownforitsfamousTennessee
whiskeys.Someexpertswillsaythattheresultisasmooth,versatilewhiskeythatis
truetoitscountryroots
[Translationandadaptationofacriticonthepage:
http://cocktails.about.com/od/whiskeyreviews/fr/Jack-Daniels-Tennesssee-Whiskey-
Review.htm,consultedonApril11,2013].However,itseemsthatthedistilleryalso
usesasoftandversatileattitudeinprotectingitstrademarksinordertoobtainan
effectiveresultwithnoaftertaste.
NewTrends?

Manylitigationpractitionersarenoticinginrecentyearsatendencytousenon-
traditionalmethodsforresolvingdisputesandprotectingtherightsoftheirclients.
Thesenewapproachesareunquestionablyinfluencedbytheincreasingand
widespreaduseofsocialmediabyconsumers(inQuébec,wewitnessedthe
Lassondecasewhereasmallsoapcompanyusingthetrademark”Olivia’sOasis”
wasaskedbygiantjuice-makerLassondetostopusingtheword”Oasis”inits
trademark),aswellasthecompaniesthemselves.
Particularly,companiesareincreasinglyawareofthephenomenonknownas”The
StreisandEffect”,whichreferstoanincidentinvolvingBarbraStreisandin2003.Ms
Streisandunwittinglydrewnegativeattentiontoherselfwhenherlawyerstook
proceedingsagainstKennethAdelmanandPictopia.comtoremoveimagesofthe
Californiacoast,takenforenvironmentalpurposes

[http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effet_Streisand,consultéele11avril2013],which
happenedtodepictMs.Streisand’sresidence.Thiswasanexampleofhowa
situationcanbeaggravatedbydrawingpublicattentiontoit,leadingtoanavalanche
ofnegativecommentsviasocialmedia.

©CIPS,2013.*FromROBIC,LLP,amultidisciplinaryfirmofLawyers,andPatentandTrade-markAgents.Published
intheSummer2013(Vol.17,no.1)Newsletterofthefirm.Publication068.163E.

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Theoppositesituationcanoccurwhenacompanyusesadifferentandmore
sympatheticmethodtodefenditsrights,suchasinthecaseofJackDaniel’s,which
ledtoawaveofpositivereviewsontheInternet,whileallowingthecompanyto
assertanddefenditsrightsadequately.
JackDaniel’sCase

ToreturntotheJackDaniel’sdistillery,inJuly2012,thelattersentaformalnoticeto
authorPatrickWensink,whohadusedanimageverysimilartothefamousandwell-
knownlabelofthe”OldNo.7brand”marketedbyJackDaniel’sonthecoverofhis
book”BrokenPianoforPresident”.
However,thisformalnoticewasnotquitewhatyouwouldexpectfromatraditional
ceaseanddesistlettertopreventathirdpartyfromillegallyusingatrademark.The
traditionalapproachwouldgenerallyincludeathreattoinstitutejudicialproceedings
andtheuseofanintransigenttone.
ExcerptsfromtheceaseanddesistlettersenttoMr.Wensikhavebeenwidelycited
inthemainstreammedia,aswellasonsocialmedia.Ratherthangoingforan
aggressiveapproach,JackDaniel’sexpressedthatitwasflatteredbythe
appreciationofitsbrand,butfeltobligatedtodefenditsrights.Thisapproachshowed
anopen-mindednessthatledtoaquickandefficientsettlement.JackDaniel’seven
offeredreasonablecompensationtotheauthortochangethedesignofthecoverfor
thefollowingreprints:
Inordertoresolvethismatter,becauseyouarebothaLouisville”neighbor”andafan
ofthebrand,wesimplyrequestthatyouchangethecoverdesignwhenthebookis
re-printed.Ifyouwouldbewillingtochangethedesignsoonerthanthat(includingon
thedigitalversion),wewouldbewillingtocontributeareasonableamounttowards
thecostofdoingso.
[http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effet_Streisand,consultéele11avril
2013]

Followingthewidespreaddisseminationofthisceaseanddesistletterinthe
mainstreammediaandsocialmedia,JackDaniel’shasbenefitedfromfree
advertisingstemmingfromthepublic’sappreciationofhowithandledthismatter.In
themeantime,italsoachieveditsgoalofenforcingitsrightseffectivelyintheUnited
Statesandelsewherewithinaveryshorttimeframe:Wensink’sbookcannowbe
purchasedwitharevisedfrontpage.
WhatistheBottomLine?

Whentheconditionsareright,aninnovativeapproachmaysometimesbehelpfulto
resolveadisputemoreefficiently.However,thismaynotalwaysbeappropriate.One

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mustbereadytoadoptstrictermeasuresiftheotherpartydoesnotcollaborate
quickly.
Inconclusion,likeagoodwhiskey,practitionersmustremainversatileintheir
approachtoenforcetherightsoftheirclients.

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