Big Red Soda Sues Big Ben Soda Over Big Trademark Dispute

Trademark

from the big-deal dept

It’s quite easy to get caught up in some trademark disputes where the trademarks are of a short nature and the industries are such that there are only so many ways to present a product. In those situations, it’s too simple to point at two brands and claim they are similar, therefore, boom, trademark infringement. Instead, a little context matters. Let me show you what I mean using one recent example.

Two soda makers, Big Red and Catawissa Bottling Company, are currently at odds over the latter’s Big Ben’s Soda brand.

Big Red, the Austin-based maker of bottled red soda, is suing a small Pennsylvania soda maker, Catawissa Bottling Company, alleging that its Big Ben Cream Soda – also red in color – infringes upon its trademark, reports the Dallas Morning News.

According to court documents, Big Red attorneys say Catawissa’s soda “is currently packaged in the same manner as Big Red soda: a clear bottle bearing a water droplet and the ‘Big Ben’ words” which are themselves substantially similar to the ‘Big Red’ words,” and that the typeface and graphics on the bottles of the two sodas are too similar.

Again, you can see where a little context is important here. Both companies are making bottled soda. For that reason, we can pretty much just throw the part about both being sold in a clear bottle out, because, duh, there’s nothing unique in the industry there. It’s the other claims that are important. The least important of them is the “Big Ben” brand name, because “Big” is the only similarity, “Big” is a super-common word that isn’t unique, while “Ben’s” and “Red” have nothing to do with each other. The name of the “Big Ben’s” brand is only relevant if the other claims Big Red makes are true: if the packaging graphics are similar, if the type-font of the words is similar, and if there is likely to be customer confusion resulting from either.

Judge for yourself how valid Big Red’s claims are.

How similar is the packaging and font to you? If you answered that they don’t look similar at all, then ding, ding, ding, you’re correct! There seems to be little chance of customer confusion over the two brands at all, honestly. The only Big Red’s dispute that might make some kind of sense would be if it thought that Catawissa had seen Big Red’s popularity and tried to come up with a brand, any brand, that appeared just similar enough to try and make customers think it was a cheap knock-off. There would be a problem with that theory, however.

It should be noted that Catawissa has been making Big Ben-brand soda since 1926. Big Red’s trademark dates back to 1957, and was the result of a consumer nickname that stuck.

It’s a product almost a century old, in other words. Oops. Big Red, I’ll note for you, is partially owned by the same company that makes Dr. Pepper and Snapple, so I’m sure there’s some access to a bit of legal firepower on their end. It’d just be nice if all that firepower was reserved for actual infringement cases.

Filed Under: big ben, big red, soda, trademark
Companies: big red, catawissa bottling company