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"TheBeerNut":2ni68lg0 wrote:

"rmck1":2ni68lg0 wrote: the name argument is at the very least predictable[/quote:2ni68lg0]I disagree. As far as I'm aware you can't usually trademark things like proper names. I think they had a case and were right to fight it, though maybe not in hindsight.[/quote:2ni68lg0]

Maybe if having a case were sufficient we might be discussing this company not as a mere historical footnote, alas what seems to be lacking here is the deep pockets that are needed in addition to a reasonable case.

My assertion that the world would be a better place if we instigated a Golgafrincham[/url:2ni68lg0] style purge of all solictors, lawyers and barristers still stands.

you would have thought that mr. smithwick being a solicitor himself would have realised the shaky ground he was on.
fairly clueless to pick a fight with guinness first off before you've even got a brew done.

Idiots. Right or wrong you have to pick your fights and choosing a name like that was like calling the biggest bully in the school yard a chicken. What was their next plan? Make a stout called "The Black Stuff" and put a harp on the bottle? You can't claim trademark over a national symbol, can you?

It's hard enough to make a go of a brewing business in this country without making more problems for yourself.

"sbillings":b6n2tniv wrote: You can't claim trademark over a national symbol, can you? [/quote:b6n2tniv]Nope, but turn it backwards and it's exclusively yours.
[quote:b6n2tniv]The GUINNESS® word, the HARP device and the ARTHUR GUINNESS® signature are trademarks.[/quote:b6n2tniv]

Whatever about picking your fights, approaching your main competitor about distribution before you even have a brewery, not to mind a product, is an interesting combination of arrogance and stupidity.

It's possible that they thought Guinness might want to get out of the ale business.

A bit like how, in the 1920s, Guinness thought Smithwick's might want to get out of the stout business, and [i:1x4joq58]it would be an awful shame if anything happened to the brewery if they didn't[/i:1x4joq58].