Guns N' Roses Is Taking Oskar Blues Brewery To Court Over Guns 'N' Rosé Ale
(CNN) - Legendary rock band Guns N' Roses has filed a lawsuit against a Colorado brewery for trademark infringement over a beer called Guns 'N' Rosé. The band claims that Canarchy Craft Brewing Collective's Oskar Blues Brewery started selling the craft ale as early as 2018 without the band's approval, according to California court documents obtained by CNN.
Merchandise such as hats, T-shirts, pint glasses, stickers, buttons, and bandanas carrying the Guns 'N' Rosé logo was also sold, the band says.
In August last year, the brewery attempted to register the logo but abandoned its application when lawyers for Axl Rose and other band members argued it was "confusingly similar" to the Guns N' Roses logo, documents say.
Despite being asked to stop selling the beer, Oskar Blues reportedly refused and said it would continue until March 2020, according to the court documents.
As a result, the complaint argues, the band has "suffered and continues to suffer and/or is likely to suffer damage to their trademarks, trade name, business reputation, and goodwill."
That's because people might think the beer brand is somehow affiliated with the Guns N' Roses, the band argues.
"As of the filing of this Complaint, Defendant's GUNS N ROSE beer continues to be sold at retailers such as BevMo, and Defendant's infringing GUNS N ROSE merchandise continues to be sold on Defendant's website," reads the complaint. "Defendant should not be entitled to continue to sell infringing products and intentionally trade on the GNR's goodwill, prestige, and fame without GNR's approval, license, or consent."
CNN has reached out to Guns N' Roses lawyers and Oskar Blues Brewery for comment.
A tweet from the brewery's official account dating back to November 2018 describes the ale as "sticky prickly pear and floral hibiscus with a subtle hop profile."
By Gianluca Mezzofiore, CNN
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2019 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.
