Oops. Might the resurrection of Primo beer hit a snag? Or is Primo Water an interloper?
Primo Water Corp., headquartered in Winston-Salem, N.C., is defending its rights to the Primo name, which it has used since 2005, against Pabst Brewing Co., which owns Honolulu’s Primo Brewing & Malting Co., the maker of Primo beer.
The legal essentials:
Last month, Pabst announced plans to reintroduce the beer next week in up to 40 Oahu restaurants and bars, and in bottles this spring.
Primo Water requested that the U.S. District Court in North Carolina order the cancellation of Primo beer trademark registrations and rule that Primo Water’s use of the name does not infringe on Pabst’s claims to the Primo beer trademarks or weaken the beer’s brand.
Pabst asked in a Sept. 7 cease-and-desist letter to Primo Water that the company stop using the Primo trademark on bottled water, according to a filing submitted Thursday by Primo Water. Pabst warned in an Oct. 31 letter to Primo Water that it “is prepared to litigate” before federal courts.
Jack Curtin has more interesting details about Primo beer.
Can anyone seriously tell the difference between a Pabst product and water anyway? Even when Primo brewed its own, it was rotgut. Schlitz didn’t improve it either.
Primo…Ah yes. back in the 70’s out on the Islands one needed to hold the bottle to the light to check for items floating in the bottle. I remember it well. Not water not beer… just Primo and another day out at French Frigate shoals.