In time for the holidays, this is a tale of competing brands
sloshing around the marketplace. Please enjoy responsibly.
Diageo North America, Inc. is purveyor of some of the
world's best-known brands of spirits and beer, some of which
are probably in your cupboard somewhere: Crown Royal, Baileys,
Smirnoff, Johnny Walker, Captain Morgan, Tanquery and Gordon's
Gin, Guinness and Kilkenny, among many others. In two parallel
trademark disputes, Diageo recently faced off with Constellation
Brands, one of Canada's largest producers and distributors of
wines.
In Constellation Brands Canada, Inc. v Diageo North
America, Inc., 2018 TMOB 133 (CanLII), Diageo applied for the
trademarks:
- MAKE IT NAKED for use in association with
distilled spirits, namely rum and rum-flavoured beverages.
