Bell's Brewery goes after Northern Brewer

Kinda surprised I haven't seen a mention of this over here:

From Northern Brewer's Facebook page

So ... we just received a letter from an attorney representing one of our favorite craft breweries; this letter informed us that we need to change the name of our Three Hearted Ale kit in a hurry. We'd love to hear your suggestions!

This really does suck, but I can kinda see where Bell's is coming from. I'd probably want them to change it too in order to protect the trademark. Still, that is pretty annoying. Any idea what they should change it to? I saw on their FB that several people had suggested Triple Bypass Ale or Broken Heart Ale.

One is a craft brewer that distributes its beer. The other is homebrewed. How is the trademark at risk unless homebrewers were selling their beer under the Bell's Brewery name. Just call it "Thief Hearted Ale"

It seems odd that NB hasn't changed the name already as with other commercial-inspired recipes such as Caribou Slobber and Shirley Furioso. I see where Bell's is coming from.

Guess they haven't heard that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

I'd rename it something that doesn't indicate the beer it was originally intended to copy. Maybe call it All American IPA.

Although I understand, it seems overkill to use an attorney to me...

How about No-Hearted Ale or Who Farted Ale?

Probably best to stay the heck away from any deviation: Centennial IPA

What I'm really surprised about, is that NB doesn't clear this with the breweries in advance.

IIRC, NB had been calling it Two-Hearted Ale - Nevermind I see that I am just blind

Two Bells IPA

Larry Ball's Who Farted Ale.

Edit: See that someone already beat me to it!

Really what it amounts to (I am not a lawyer) is protecting the brand and/or intellectual property. What happens is the company must defend their name in any case, even if the name is close.... no matter how frivolous. The reason that they have to do this is - let's say a commercial brewery creates a brew called Three Hearted Ale. Bell's sues them, but the defense will do some research and find out NB has a kit named Three Hearted ale. Their defense will simply be "Well, you didn't seem to care that NB had a kit called Three Hearted Ale, so why do you care now?" May seem silly but that's the way works and is the cause of many a frivolous lawsuit in our wonderful justice system...

Really what it amounts to (I am not a lawyer) is protecting the brand and/or intellectual property. What happens is the company must defend their name in any case, even if the name is close.... no matter how frivolous. The reason that they have to do this is - let's say a commercial brewery creates a brew called Three Hearted Ale. Bell's sues them, but the defense will do some research and find out NB has a kit named Three Hearted ale. Their defense will simply be "Well, you didn't seem to care that NB had a kit called Three Hearted Ale, so why do you care now?" May seem silly but that's the way works and is the cause of many a frivolous lawsuit in our wonderful justice system...

There is a huge difference between selling raw ingredients and selling a brewed/packaged beer.

To me it seems like an homage, or compliment to offer a kit that emulates a popular beer. I agree with Brandon that selling ingredients to make your own version of a beer is quite different from selling a cloned commercial beer. I suppose the legal reasons cited above make some sense, but it seems a sad reminder of the litigious nature of our society. The beer is named after Hemingway's Big Two Hearted River stories (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Two-Hearted_River). Shouldn't be hard to think of a new title referring to the stories in some way, assuming that satisfies Bell's legal dept.

Although I understand, it seems overkill to use an attorney to me...

How about No-Hearted Ale or Who Farted Ale?

Probably best to stay the heck away from any deviation: Centennial IPA

Founders(Grand Rapids MI) IPA is called Centennial IPA! I like "Who Farted Ale".

I knew a race horse named Hoof Hearted...

Who Farted is catchy, but I don't know that it would promote sales. Then again, we're talking about a bunch of middle-aged male home brewers...