More than 150 Brewers Came Together For Learning, Networking and The Love of Good Beer.

Knowledge sharing is what makes the craft beer industry special and sets us a part from other industries. It’s amazing to see colleagues and friends jumping in to help a fellow brewer in need – lending cans, ingredients and advice. 

Despite our numbers -- now 188 breweries across the Commonwealth – our industry is still young. We are still converting and educating macro beer drinkers, and working to keep consumers drinking and loving craft beer.

Continuing our education, sharing what we know, and attending events like MBG Con ensures that MA Beer will always have the highest quality standards possible..  

The MBG’s second annual conference drew 150 attendees to Jack's Abby Craft Lagers and helped to raise $10,000 for our association. These are crucial funds to aid our organization’s work -- to protect and promote the interests of craft brewers. 

Our voice carries the most weight on Beacon Hill when we are unified. When we are all working together for a common goal. We are currently working to combat decades old franchise laws, to achieve selling rights at farmers’ markets, to expand brew pub rights for self-distribution, and are working to keep our seasonal beer gardens. 

A huge thanks to everyone who contributed to the event's success by speaking, sending your colleagues and staff to learn, and/or financially supporting the event. It’s a real team effort to pull together an afternoon of learning and knowledge sharing.

We raise a glass to the Hendler brothers and the entire staff at Jack's Abby Craft Lagers for hosting, to our MBG Con Committee – Jeremy Cross, from Jack’s Abby Craft Lagers, Maureen Fabry, from CraftRoots Brewing Co., Chris Sellers from The People’s Pint and Kelsey Roth from Exhibit ‘A’ Brewing Co., as well as event support from Christine Healy at Craft'd Events, Ryan Daigle from Wachusett Brewing Co., and Adam Romanow from Castle Island Brewing Co. 
 
And last and certainly not least thank you to leading sponsor Bernstein Shur,and supporting sponsors, ABS Commercial, Acadia Insurance, Amoretti, BeerFests.com, Bowditch & Dewey, BrewWizz, Click Insurance, Craft'd Company, DWS Printing Associates, Eastern Standard Provisions, Fat Basset Design, Four Star Farms, Hub International Insurance, InTouch Labels, MassPay, Micromatic, One Off Apparel, Patriot Energy, Rochester Midland Corp. and Theilmann. 

These folks not only helped to make this event affordable for attendees but they are also members of the MBG. They care deeply about the craft beer industry, so please return the favor by checking out their services to see if they are fit for your needs. 

Our friends at MassPay generously donated their video services throughout the day to capture all of the conference sessions. Those who purchased tickets to the event will have access to all of the day's workshops. If you did not attend the event, you will be able to purchase access to these video sessions. 

We can only improve with your feedback. If you attended the event please share your experience by completing this brief survey. Thanks for your time! 

Until next year!

Six Things You Didn’t Know About Trademarks

By: Julie K. O'Neil

Brewers can protect the uniqueness of their brands of brew and brewery names by filing for federal registration of their trademarks. Here are a few things about the process that are good to know:

• There are 45 different classes of goods and services, and how you file to protect your trademark is an important decision. Is your mark simply the name of a beer? Is it also the name of your brew pub? If so, consider filing in the classes covering both beer and restaurant/bar services. The more classes you file in, the more filing fees; but also the greater protection you will have.
   
• Don’t file for registration of a mark with a particular description of goods or services unless you know that at some point within the next three years you will be able to file an appropriate “specimen” of use. For goods, a specimen is often simply a photograph of the packaged goods bearing the trademark. For services, often pages from the applicant’s website promoting the services and showing the servicemark comprise the specimens of use. If you have filed for a stylized mark or logo (meaning, not just a plain typed word or phrase), note that the mark must look exactly the same on your specimen of use as it looks in the “drawing” of the mark. Otherwise the specimen will be rejected.
   
• Do you need to claim color? With respect to stylized words and logos, you will need to decide prior to making the filing if you want to file for protection in black and white, or claim protection as to the specific colors in the mark, or both. If the colors included in the trademark are the most important and recognizable part of the mark, you may want to claim color. But note that if you change your colors later, the mark with the new colors will not have the same protection. Because of this, for stylized marks, it is best to file two applications, once claiming color, and one not.
• If your trademark includes a geographical indicator, your application may be rejected. The US trademark office will not register a trademark on the Principal Register if the trademark is “primarily geographically descriptive” of the goods or services.
   
• There are two federal trademark “registers” – Principal and Supplemental. If your application is rejected from the Principal Register (which could be because it is “merely descriptive” (for example, “Only Good Beer”), “laudatory” (for example, “Super Awesome Beer”) or for other reasons), you may be able to move it to the Supplemental Register, which provides less protection. However, after 5 years of continuous use, you can try to move the registration to the Principal Register by proving that the mark has become “distinctive.”
   
• Is it ever better to not apply to register your mark? Yes. Sometimes it is better not to draw attention to your use of a trademark by filing a public application to register it at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). If your mark could potentially be considered as infringing on another mark, and the owner of that other mark has deep pockets, you may want to lie low. Owners of registered marks that are financially strong usually monitor trademark filings for potential infringers, and they can bring opposition or cancellation proceedings resulting in your having to cease the use of your mark altogether.

Pick unique names for your brewery and your brews, and make sure you protect them properly! Now that is a strategy that will bring you good cheer!

Julie O’Neill focuses her practice on business, corporate and securities law, and counseling individuals and entities at all stages of the corporate life cycle on a wide variety of sophisticated transactions in the U.S., Canada, and abroad.