Stone Brewing sues MillerCoors over Keystone Light packaging
The co-founder of a heralded craft brewery, Greg Koch of Stone Brewing, has said he will never sell out to “Big Beer.” Now, with a lawsuit, he’s attempting to prove it.
Stone Brewing is taking MillerCoors to court, alleging the beer giant is trying to co-opt its name.
In its suit filed this week in federal court in San Diego, Stone Brewing, based in nearby Escondido, Calif., alleges trademark infringement that occurred when MillerCoors rebranded its Keystone Light beer. MillerCoors denies Stone’s allegations, which it labeled a “publicity stunt.”
The beer giant’s revamping of Keystone Light last April was done to emphasize the word “Stone,” the lettering of which covers much of a side of a can, Stone says in its suit. “Keystone’s new can design overtly copies and infringes the Stone trademark.”
Packaging for 30-packs of Keystone cans have the word “Stone” displayed prominently, without “virtually any reference to ‘Keystone’ at all,” the suit says, and “the packaging is designed to create a ‘wall of Stone’ when displayed in stores.”
An escalating social media campaign on Facebook and Instagram — and ads on sites such as ESPN.com — refers to Keystone as Stone.
“Such mass advertising broadcasts the infringing ‘Stone’ name beyond Keystone’s immediate social media audience to the general public at large,” the suit says.
In 2017, Stone produced 12 million gallons of beer and recorded total revenue of $242 million, the company says.
In the $100 billion-plus U.S. beer market, sales of major brand beers have generally been flat, but craft beer sales have continued to rise, although at a slowing rate. In recent years, AnheuserBusch InBev and MillerCoors have both acquired smaller breweries, too.
Stone also has been expanding its reach. In 2016, it opened a brewery in Berlin and a production brewery in Richmond, Va.