UPDATE 26 Oct 09 Monster backs down ––- VERMONSTER to be brewed in VT...
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/10/12/ap/business/main5380304.shtml

A note from Matt Nadeau owner of Rock Art Brewery

CONGRATULATIONS AMERICA VICTORY is OURS!!
Rock Art Brewery is allowed to continue brewing and selling THE VERMONSTER as
we have since day one in 2006!

I thank all of you for your efforts; this victory is because we all worked together on a
common goal. Our voice spoke as one to the Corporate Giant, and they listened, and then
they spoke as I had asked from day one.
I will break this statement down into three parts so you will have an outline of the intent
of this statement.

A) Thank you America! This is the world I want to live in!
B) Power of the tools used and the inherent ease of them.
C) The future, what do we want to do with this current tool that has been formed.
Thank You America!

I can't tell you what this means to me, my family and the folks that we work
with at Rock Art Brewery. Every voice has contributed to the success of this media
campaign. You all should take great pride in what has been accomplished, the ease of it
and the speed at which the tide was turned.

It began on September 14 th 2009 a day that will go down in history as to the POWER OF
THE PEOPLE when they speak in a unified voice. I read the cease and desist letter and in
disbelief I contacted legal advice, all saying no issues here but you will lose by default.
The day will come as this is dragged out in the courts that you will have no more money
to defend your legally used name.

That was a sad view of reality that was presented to me; you all saw the video
from http://greenriverpictures.com Yes, a plug for them as they believe in this issue so
much as you all do, that they produced the video for free to help me with my story, and
we were told by a billion dollar company that they produced a \'ery professional video.
Why would they do this for free? They are a small start up company and see that this
injustice could one day happen to them as it is happening to small businesses everywhere
right now. This goal was accomplished without going to court, without fans donating
money, although the offers were sincere and helped to confirm that I was correct in my
pursuit ofjustice. This was accomplished mostly thru speech, and the conscious efforts
of thousands of Americans spreading the word and contacting the corporation.
Once America spoke together in the language ofUSA dollars, a representative of
the corporation was willing to speak to me. A courtesy that I had asked for since day
one, Thank You America you helped to win this one together.

Power of the tools used and the ease of which they can be used:
This will be a narrated time line of the events that happened and the speed at
which our internet world lives in. This was accomplished by Americans communicating
and working together and using the POWER of SPEECH. This speech was harnessed
through traditional media as well as the new social media such as Twitter, FaceBook,
Blog sites, e-mail lists and web sites to name a few. These tools are incredibly
POWERFULL and move at blinding speed. Tools that can help give a small guy a
chance on the playing field maybe as golfhas a handicap for players. Now small
business and America has a way to combat a wealthy corporation in America. It's the
same right we have had from our forefathers, free speech. It has been adjusted to meet
the new demands oftoday's world.

As a community we came together, unified our voice and spoke the language that
Corporate America speaks, USA dollars. I tried to talk since day one with the
corporation but they were not speaking my language, common English language that we
speak everyday. So I spoke this language with my fans at the brewery, which spread to
the Stowe Reporter picking up the story, to Seven Days bringing more statewide
coverage. We then sent out an e-mail to fans of Rock Art Brewery telling them the story
on Oct 7th at 4 pm.. That night Beverage Warehouse in Winooski pulled all of the
company's products offthe shelf. Now we were speaking the language of Corporate
America. Other stores such as Pearl Street Beverage in Burlington and Healthy Living
also joined the language that was being spoken. Oct. 9th Local TV news WCAX picked
up the story and ran the late news as well as the news the following day. Now the
language was picking up steam. Fans, Lukas Payette a UVM student, started a Face
Book page soon to be joined by Jeff Baker of Beverage Warehouse "Vermonters and
Craft Beer Drinkers against Monster" They were spreading the word to e-mail lists and
social media friends they had. Those folks would in tum spread it on to their contacts as
this began to snowball. Fans now had a central place to log into and get instant reports of
the progress being made in the social media campaign. Tweeters began a string of tweets
to follow #lsupportrockart and #boycottmonster were two of many that began to spread
the message of common English language and the language of'Corporate America, USA
dollars.

Steam was rolling; on Monday the 12thh John Curran of the Associated Press came
and interviewed me about this issue of trademark infringement. That story with a photo
of the two products, and a spread ofTHE VERMONSTER and I ran at 5pm to 275 AP
news outlets across this great nation of ours. This was now nationwide only 12 days
from the first printed report by the Stowe Reporter Oct.1st News Giants such as The
Boston Globe, The New York Times and others were running the article.
Soon VPR was interviewing, New England Cable News Network was in Morrisville
running a story. Calls were coming in from all over; a talk show on Texas radio ran
coverage of an interview with me. Radio from New Mexico and others were calling.
Oct. 14th Green River Pictures uploads the "You Tube" video and the social media of
facebook and twitter pick this up and spread it across the country instantly. That is
POWER to the PEOPLE, which may have been the pivotal point in all of this, the straw
that broke the camels back as some say. The next morning Oct. 15th at 8am I received a
call from a Hansen's Beverage stock investor.

Yes, the investors were calling; America was now speaking the language of
Corporate America loud and clear. I asked to speak with Rodney Sacks CEO of
Hansen's Beverage, and guess what? Rodney and I spoke on the phone that day and legal
language was being written to give both parties what they wanted. Rodney and I spoke
again on Friday the 16th and fine tuned the language agreeable to both of us. Monday
Senator Bernie Sanders called me and also issued a letter to Hansen's office. Tuesday the
20th two tiny words were found by Hansen's lawyers that did not affect the contract from
my point of view, but the two words were important to them so we amended the contract.
Wed. the 21 st VICTORY!!! We had a signed contract that was more or less what I had
offered on September 28th

• They built in language to protect the needs of Hansen in
current markets as well as future markets. I had all I wanted from day one waS the ability
to continue my brewing ofTHE VERMONSTER my celebratory beer of 2006, 10
successful years in the brewing business. THANK YOU AMERICA YOU SAVED THE
VERMONSTER FROM CERTAIN DEATH! 21 days of traditional media combined
with 13 days of social media, that's it folks, change in 21 days once the language of
Corporate America is spoken.

The future, what do we want to do with the current tool that has been formed?
The facebook page "Vermonters and Craft beer Drinkers against Monster" has
over 16,000 fans as of today only 13 days since it began. Americans as well as
supporters from England, Denmark, India, Czech Republic, New Zealand, Canada and
more have been involved. Watching this and commenting on the issue, passing to their
friends as well. I was told around the 15th of Oct. that twitter had 1,600,000 tweets in
reference to this subject; I wonder what the number is today? Can anyone e-mail that to
me so I can update this document?

America and supporters from around the world have built a tool in 13 days that
can turn Corporate America and guide them back on track. It must be pointed out though
that trademark law, some would argue, requires action from corporations to protect their
rights and hard work building a brand. Everyone needs to be protected; we just can't
have the court system bogged down with expensive litigation. Litigation that will end
with the small guy running out of money to fight and then loose by default. That is not
right, just or fair, but that is the system that is in place. I have heard countless stories in
this 21 day campaign of financial distress for the small business that runs out of money
and has to give up his or her rights to what they have worked hard to build in their life.
Do we want to keep this social media tool that has been created in 13 days alive
and continue to broaden it and sharpen its focus? How do we do that? How do we
preserve it? Many questions about what can be done many answers are needed by all.
Please communicate as we have been for such a short time. Until we as Americans have
some reform of the trademark system, we will continue to be brought unwillingly down
this path of no return in the court system where court time and resources are tied up
continually until the inevitable outcome happens, the small guy looses all that he has built
in his life.

Let's communicate about this great event; I am still trying to think of how this can
benefit the next person. I would ask that all the citizens, professors, businessman,
lawyers and representatives that have called on this situation to reflect and think about the
future and what we can do next so this movement can be used as a catalyst to affect real
change in our world today.

We need change, our small businesses need our help, they need reform and our
nation's leaders should address these needs when the pressing needs oftoday's world
subside a bit. I ask that they help the next small business that doesn't have all the cards
lined up like we found, loyal fans, internet savvy supporters, a popular or sexy product,
an easy to identify visual argument with the two products side by side, and so on. We or
I ask them to write legislation that will protect both sides of American business. The
corporate world and the small family business down the main street of America.
We can change anything when we work together, that is true democracy in action, no
interference from lobbyists, no unseen agendas holding up democracy, no deals being
made to anyone's benefit, just pure democracy in its finest.

This is a great victory for the citizens of this country as our world gets more and more
complicated, and some may feel powerless. Remember this Victorious day of Oct. 22nd
2009. A day that proved citizens can and still do run this country in organic democracy.
Your VOICE is your POWER and it will be heard.

POWER to the PEOPLE
POWER belongs to the PEOPLE

Thank You very much Vermont, America and followers around the globe. Oct. 22nd the
day of true change.
Sincerely,
Matt Nadeau

Not sure how you feel about a large corp threating a small startup, but it does not sit well with me. I know the local stores are pulling Monster from the shelves...

UPDATE with YouTube video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbG_woqXTeg





http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20091012/NEWS04/910120351

http://www.rockartbrewery.com/

Article published Oct 12, 2009
Monster drinks threaten tiny Vt. brewer
By Gordon Dritschilo Staff Writer
Matt Nadeau said he's pretty sure people can tell the difference between a craft beer and an energy drink.

Hansen Beverage, which makes the Monster Energy Drink along with a line of "natural" sodas, seems to think otherwise. A law firm claiming to represent the California company has sent a cease-and-desist order to Nadeau, proprietor of Rock Art Brewery, over his Vermonster beer.

"I'm bewildered right now," Nadeau said Friday.

Nadeau said he wants to keep the name of his beer and has talked to five different trademark lawyers who tell him Hansen doesn't have a case. However, he said he is afraid that Hansen's pockets are much deeper than his and could afford a series of appeals that would bankrupt him.

Meanwhile, the story is circulating on beer blogs and at least one store in Vermont has pulled all of Hansen's products from its shelves in protest.

In addition to Monster, Hansen makes Hansen's Natural Soda along with various juices and teas using the Hansen name.

Rock Art, based in Morrisville, makes about 3,000 to 3,500 barrels of beer a year. Nadeau said that while he does have some out-of-state distribution, almost all of his beer is sold in Vermont. The Vermonster is a barley wine first produced in 2007 in honor of the company's 10th anniversary.

The letter, signed by Diane Reed of Knobb, Martens, Olsen & Bear in Irvine, Calif., claims the name of the beer will "undoubtedly create a likelihood of confusion and/or dilute the distinctive quality of Hansen's MONSTER marks."

Reed said she was too busy to discuss the case Friday and claimed she was in "confidential negotiations" with Rock Art.

At Hansen's headquarters in California, a request to speak with the company's media representative was directed to a woman who only gave her name as "Amala," which she refused to spell. She said there was no media representative at Hansen and that the company had no comment.

She would not even confirm Reed's law firm worked for them.

Nadeau, on the other hand, had plenty to say. He said the lawyers he contacted told him he could easily rack up thousands in court costs which he would not be able to recover.

"It's not a do-or-die for Rock Art," he said. "Yes, I can change the name. It just rubs me the wrong way. I don't remember the Pledge of Allegiance saying 'and justice for those with the deep pockets.'"

Nadeau said he offered to stay away from energy drinks if Hansen would leave his beer alone.

"Their lawyer — she has the nerve to tell me they're not even worried about the energy drink, they now want to enter the beer market," he said. "It's really unnerving to think a giant corporation has the ability to roll into a market where I'm already using the name."

Rock Art has at least one supporter so far. The Beverage Warehouse in Winooski has pulled all Hansen products from its store. Manager George Bergin said Monster was its top-selling energy drink. He also said he has heard other retailers in the state are taking similar action.

"We hope that if we and others aren't buying their product, it would send a message back to them saying they shouldn't be doing this," Bergin said.

Bergin said they posted a notice on the cooler and that employees at the register have been explaining the action to customers looking for Hansen products.

"Everyone seems to have been completely supportive of Rock Art," he said. "I haven't had anyone who hasn't been upset they couldn't get their Monster."

Larry Meier, who teaches trademark law at Vermont Law School, said a trademark does not give a company exclusive use of a name for any product.

"There's three or four registrations for 'Cadillac,' but all four products are so different they can coexist, like Cadillac for cars and Cadillac for dog food," he said.

The legal test, Meier said, is whether the two products are likely to be confused.

"It's not something that's completely black-and-white," he said. "There's a lot of case law over the years on this issue."

The law can apply to related products, he said. For example, someone making a Log Cabin pancake mix could find themselves in trouble with the makers of the syrup as consumers might reasonably assume they were from the same company.

Rock Art isn't the only Vermonster out there. Ben & Jerry's has long used the name for a massive tub of ice cream available at its shops. A spokeswoman for the company said she was not aware of any trademark issues with the name.

"Vermonster" is also the name of a series of truck rallies in Bradford.

Brooklyn Brewing Co. makes a barley wine called "Monster Ale." A representative to the company declined to discuss whether Hansen had challenged its use of the name.

The Joseph Schlitz Brewing Co., now owned by Pabst, makes a malt liquor called Red Bull which predates — at least in the U.S. — the now-popular Austrian energy drink of that name. A Google search did not reveal any trademark dispute between the companies.

[email protected]

Once they are done with the Monster energy drink lawyers, I am sure Noel Lee from Monster Cable is next in line.



Noel seems to think that he owns the word "Monster" and has sued everyone who has used this word in their product. Yes, including Disney, the Discovery Channel and even a small ski school in Colorado.

Question: i thought common words can't aren't supposed to be copywritten/trade marked?  for exampe, i can't go out and trade mark the word "red" and sue anyone who uses the word "red".  too bad for LaRue with the whole ARMS 17 bullshit.

too bad lawsuits also seem to be expensive and smaller companies usually can't stand up to larger companies whose lawyers make more than the entire smaller company.  

don't forget MonsterJobs.com.    I'm sure they're standing in line waiting to get a piece of them...

This is one of those cases that makes me want to beat management and lawyers with a rubber hose.

So, wait....Monster is sueing this company for using a name they want to use on a future product?

Well sorta.. First they are trying to protect the Monster trademark but admitted that they are considering entering the beer market and plan to use the Monster name...

They ripped of the indian piper guy from New Mexico, no question.

What a bunch of tools, the guy brews 19 different varieties with one being Vermonster

How in the world is this an infringement or a threat to them ?

I do buy Energy Drinks on occasion but now I will never but a Monster brand drink again



*ETA*  I just emailed Monster and Hansen Beverage Company and told them based upon their lawsuit against Rock Art Brewery I will not purchase any of their products

Sonic burgers did the same thing to a local burrito place(sonic burrito) that had been in town for 10+years before there was ever a Sonic burger. The lawyer power of a major chain was significantly higher than that of a 4 employee burrito shop.

what next, are they going to sue the munsters?  how about muenster cheese?  these assclowns need to get hit with some frivolous law suit fines and pay the defense / time lost fees of the victims.  


I am attempting to make a shift away from the massive corporations.  I don't like how they operate and have to crush everyone.  I'd rather 1000 small business owner liver comfortably than 1 conglomerate owner being a billionaire.

"Loser pays" would stop a great many injustices from being perpetrated. Lawyers would lose the most.

Fuck Monster.  Their drinks taste like shit anyway.




Kokopelli's relatives don't have the cash to sue.

In some cases lawyers are the scum of the earth.

I was wondering about that too. I have a feeling that image may be trademarked also.

boycott email sent

it's a deity from 1000 AD .... he just might be fair use by now?

Lol, I was just kidding around.  I don't think anyone has a trademark of Kokopelli the fertillity god.  You can buy all kinds of different products with that drawing slapped on them.   It would be like trademarking Jesus on the cross.

Free Market goes off the rails when business start using the courts like this. The word "Monster" is not exclusive intellectual property.

I saw a few Restaurants in New Mexico with Kokopelli's image as part of advertising, I always wondered if somebody pulled off trademarking it ?

Therefore our legislators ––the greater part of whom are lawyers–– will never let it happen.

They should be jumping with joy. Haagan Daas [Pillsbury] tried a similar line of shit with Ben& jerry's when they were tiny.  National attention is a GOOD thing when running a small shop, just play it smart and get the public rooting for the underdog.

Hard Rock Cafe sued a St Louis radio station for having a restaurant called The Real Rock Cafe(play on the radio stations name, KSHE 95 Real Rock Radio) and won.



I wonder if I should order some craft beer?

Monster Jobs and Monster Cable don't create as much potential for confusion and brand dilution for Monster Energy as another beverage company might.

Monster should change it's name to NOTGETTINGANYOFMYMONEY ENERGY DRINKS

This idea sounds good and it is motivated by righteous desire (i.e. reduce frivolous law suits), but in practice the unintended consequences are disastrous.

No, the kokpelli figure it comparatively widespread in ancient South Western indian art. Kind of hard to trademark something like that.



Hansen can go suck a bag of dicks. But the kokopelli figure always annoys me. It's become a sort of hippie symbol that means "yeah I like nature, and think native stuff should be protected and shit. Will you sleep with me now smelly, hairy, hippie chick?". Just how it's used on this beer. There are NO kokopelli figures in Vermont you damn hippies!





 

This sort of thing would make it easy for me to never buy Monster drinks again - problem is, I already don't buy them, because they don't taste all that great.

This sucks, all they do is make really good beer at Rock Art.  I've been a fan of their beer for years, now some idiot whos got money is going to drive a good, honest, small brewery out of business.  

Are you a lawyer?

I'd like to support Rock Art. Maybe I'll buy a shirt, since I don't think their brew is sold in my AO.

This guy might have some other problems with the names of some of his beers.  His Hells Bock sticks out, since Helles Bock is a type of beer and there is a beer out on the market called Holiday Helles Bock.

Funny.  I was going to post the same thing.



This is why I use only Mogami Gold cables.



 

Judges do have the ability to award litigation costs to the winning party at their discretion.



 

Just more silly crap by a big company against a small entreprenuer.

I hope Monster gets their butts kicked.

HH

I'm going to try and check out the brewery the next time I head up to Stowe. Vermont has some hidden treasures when it comes to microbreweries.

Dont forget to add the lead.

Hopefully Monster gets put in their place.  It's bullshit that this issue even came up.

This must be the same law firm that A.R.M.S uses.



Wonder if Rock Art sells any of that brew in my area.

Well, fuck monster.  Not gonna get their drinks any more.  Corporate BS like this pisses me off.

In case they might want to. Just another option they want to protect.

This is bullshit man!........

I was thinking the same thing.... I would be great if this really helped out versus knocking them down...

The website is listed on the first post, maybe you can get your local store to get a stock in..

And just to clarify, I have yet to try any of their brew, but planning on it soon. Will provide some first hand reviews this weekend...

Bull shit!

I buy Monster by the case and know the local distributors.
I've even talked to them about cosponsorships  of race teams and kids sports teams.
I'll be letting them know the PR impact they're facing with this dip shit move.

Lately I've been buying Rockstar instead of Monster since the money goes to a conservative family, here's one more reason to.

Could he countersue to offset the cost of a defense attorney?

Monster Cable already sued the job website Monster.  Notice the link at the bottom of every page on monster.com that will direct you to monstercable.com.  It was part of the settlement.

Ironically, Monster Energy Drink was sued by Monster Cable in a similar brand recognition suit.  Perhaps this brewer could pull Hansen Beverage's own arguments and use it against them.

I just informed my caffeine addict 15yo he is no longer allowed to drink Monster energy drinks.

That takes care of what that law firm makes.

Until you need a lawyer and get told "no thanks," anyway.

Asssociated Press has picked the story up...

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iTH-tsAmOUKatfUKo_9dxLJtD5qQD9B9QPHG1






Monster-maker to Vt. brewer: No 'Vermonster' beer
By JOHN CURRAN (AP) – 11 hours ago

MORRISVILLE, Vt. — Forget David and Goliath. This fight's between Matt and Monster.

The maker of Monster energy drinks has taken aim at a Vermont brewery that sells a beer called "The Vermonster," ordering it to stop selling, advertising and promoting the craft brew because it could confuse consumers.

The energy drink-maker, Hansen Beverage Co., wants tiny Rock Art Brewery to stop using the name "Vermonster" on the barley brew and to compensate it for its attorneys' fees.

Matt Nadeau, who owns the brewery with his wife, Renee, says he's been told by five trademark attorneys that the law is probably on his side, but that proving it through lengthy litigation could bankrupt him.

"This is just about principle," said Nadeau, 43. "Corporate America can't be allowed to do this, in this day and age. It's just not right."

The beer is made at Rock Art's small warehouse brewery in Morrisville, which employs seven people, and is sold in 22-ounce brown glass bottles. It hit the market in 2007, and is now sold in Vermont, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut and Arizona.

Based in Corona, Calif., Hansen sold over $1 billion worth of Monster drinks last year. The products carry a distinctive three-line logo designed to look like a claw mark.

"A lifestyle in a can," its Web site proclaims.

The dispute began last month, when a lawyer for Hansen Beverage sent an e-mail message to Nadeau's attorneys saying the brewer would "undoubtedly create a likelihood of confusion and/or dilute" Hansen's trademark.

The Hansen lawyer who wrote the e-mail, Diane M. Reed, declined to comment. A telephone message left for a Hansen spokeswoman wasn't returned.

Nadeau contacted Reed to say the products are in two different markets — beer and energy drinks — and offered to surrender any rights to use the name on an energy drink. According to Nadeau, Reed said that's not Hansen's concern, but that Hansen wants to enter the alcoholic beverage market.

"I said `Too bad, I'm already here.' I've been here. And I'm already brewing beer," said Nadeau.

Such warning letters aren't unusual in trademark disputes.


"The way the law is arranged, the holder of a trademark has to be very aggressive in defending it, even when it's overreaching," said Douglas Riley, Nadeau's trademark attorney. "If you miss a legitimate infringement, people will point out in later years that you weren't defending your properties. You can lose it if you don't defend it, so you err on the side of caution.

"Escalator, aspirin, celluloid were once trademarks and they became common jargon because the owners didn't defend them or find a way to stop people from using those names," Riley said.

He said he's in discussions with Hansen Beverage representatives.

David S. Welkowitz, a trademark law expert who's not involved in the case, says there isn't a hard-and-fast answer, but that litigating the dispute could take a long time — and a lot of money.

"People don't have to believe that Hansen makes the beer, they simply have to believe that Hansen approved of it or licensed it," he said.

Nadeau has taken his beef online. Rock Art's Web site headlines a description of the dispute as "Rock Art Brewery vs. Corporate America."

And his supporters are taking up the cause.

"Letting you know I've stopped buying all Hansen/Monster products until you back off on rockartbrewery," one person wrote on Twitter. "Cheering for David v. Goliath," wrote another.

One Vermont store decided to boycott Monster.

At Beverage Warehouse, in Winooski, co-owner George Bergin has taken Hansen and Monster products off the shelves and is telling customers why. Monster is the store's best-selling energy drink, and sales may be lost, but that's OK, he said.

"At least we're getting their attention," Bergin said. "Maybe, hopefully, (Hansen) thought they'd send a threatening letter and realized that Vermont's the kind of place where people stand up for each other, and this might've been a mistake."

Here is the cease and desist order from Monster...

http://www.rockartbrewery.com/uploads/Monster_Letter.pdf

And Rock Art's responce

http://www.rockartbrewery.com/uploads/101209_rockartresponse.pdf