Guns N' Roses settles lawsuit over Guns 'N' Rosé beer

[August 14, 2019]  By Jonathan Stempel

(Reuters) - Guns N' Roses has settled a lawsuit in which it accused the Colorado brewery Oskar Blues of trademark infringement for selling Guns 'N' Rosé ale and merchandise without permission.

According to a Monday court filing by the rock band's lawyers, both sides agreed in principle to settle on July 31, and are working on a written settlement that would lead to the lawsuit's dismissal.

Guns N' Roses, whose general partners include singer Axl Rose, guitarist Slash and bassist Duff McKagan, accused Oskar Blues on May 9 of deliberately trading off its fame and goodwill by selling Guns 'N' Rosé, starting in early 2018.

It also objected to the sale of related T-shirts, stickers, buttons and bandannas, saying Oskar Blues confused beer drinkers into thinking Guns N' Roses and Guns 'N' Rosé were connected.

The Longmont, Colorado-based brewery, whose products include Dale's Pale Ale, has described Guns 'N' Rosé as combining "sticky prickly pear and floral hibiscus with a subtle hop profile."

Lawyers for the band and the brewery did not immediately respond on Tuesday to separate requests for comment.

Other craft breweries including Lagunitas, Rogue, Sierra Nevada and Stone have also been in trademark lawsuits, whether as plaintiffs or defendants, as the swelling ranks of breweries make it tougher to come up with new ways to sell beer.

The Brewers Association said the United States had 7,346 craft breweries in 2018, up from 3,814 in 2014.

The case is Guns N' Roses v Canarchy Craft Brewery Collective LLC d/b/a Oskar Blues Brewery, U.S. District Court, Central District of California, No. 19-04052.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; editing by Jonathan Oatis)

[© 2019 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2019 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.