Route 66 brewery sued by European company over name

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A New Mexico brewery that uses the Route 66 in its name faces a lawsuit from a European company that says it owns the beer sales and marketing trademark for the famed American highway.

Henry Lackey, the owner of the Route 66 Junkyard Brewery in the town of Grants, N.M., said this week that he is fighting the federal lawsuit filed earlier this year by Lodestar Anstalt. That company is incorporated in the tiny European nation of Liechtenstein, with headquarters on the Mediterranean island nation of Cyprus.

Lackey’s brewery is on Route 66 and he said in an interview with The Associated Press he does not believe a European company should have a say in how the historic U.S. highway’s name is used.

According to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Albuquerque, Lodestar owns the U.S. trademark for Route 66 beers in the country and the trademark for the highway’s logo-type “shield” that go on labels for beer.

Lodestar’s attorney, Warren Bleeker, said the company filed the proper trademark requirements with U.S. officials, must enforce its rights and wants Lackey to change the bar’s name.

Lackey said he was in discussions with Bleeker after receiving a cease and desist letter but cut off talks after the company sued him.

“You’re not going to punch me in the mouth and expect me to back down,” said Lackey. “Once you punch me in the mouth the fight’s on.”