On May 28 we shared the story of a modern-day David and Goliath – West Sixth Brewing and Magic Hat – fighting a trademark infringement battle through the use of social media, including an online petition which garnered more than 17,000 signatures on behalf of West Sixth. The companies have reached a confidential settlement. West Sixth agreed to remove a star and the word “Company” from its logo.
Will Montague, a lawyer who deals with intellectual-property issues, opined that while Magic Hat won a legal victory in forcing West Sixth’s logo change, “West Sixth had a huge victory because of the very skillful social-media campaign it conducted, which is relatively new.” Montague said taking this approach “was a gamble on West Sixth’s part.” And, as we pointed out in our initial post, the best course is to “run things by” your attorney first.
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Our June 6 post reported Chrysler’s refusal to recall 2.7 million Jeeps. Just two days after that, however, Chrysler decided to make two other recalls, totaling 630,000 vehicles. Jeep Patriot and Compass small SUVs for 2010-2012 model years are being recalled to fix air bag and seat belt problems. Jeep Wranglers from 2012 and 2013 are being recalled to fix transmission fluid leaks.