ARTICLE · 10 MAY 2017

A BrewDog's Breakfast

ENS

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The recent storm in the UK about Scottish craft brewing company BrewDog's decision to invoke its trade mark rights against much smaller rivals highlights the difficulties and negative repercussions...

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Delene Bertasso

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The recent storm in the UK about Scottish craft brewing company BrewDog's decision to invoke its trade mark rights against much smaller rivals highlights the difficulties and negative repercussions that can arise when it comes to enforcing trade mark rights.

BrewDog has been extraordinarily successful. The company was launched in 2007 by two young men who met at school and decided to go into business because ''basically we couldn't find anything we really wanted to drink". The company now has a considerable business comprising multiple brands (including the flagship Punk IPA), some 45 bars (15 of them outside the UK in places like Tokyo, Helsinki and Sao Paolo), a staff of nearly 600, exports to 50 countries, and sales of GBP45-million.

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