“MillerCoors has long coveted the Stone mark,” the complaint says. “For years, Stone’s incontestable registration has stood as an obstacle to KeyStone’s marketing efforts, preventing use of “Stone”-centric branding. Now, MillerCoors is willfully infringing the Stone mark in a calculated attempt to dilute it beyond repair.” The complaint goes on:
“In September 2007, MillerCoors applied to register the mark “StoneS” with the USPTO for use in connection with KeyStone Light (U.S. Serial No. 77/284,994). The USPTO refused to register the mark for the obvious reason that “StoneS” was likely to be confused with Stone when used on beer. The USPTO’s office action explicitly cited the incontestable Stone registration as the basis for its refusal, putting MillerCoors on formal notice of Stone’s rights (in the unlikely event it was not aware of them already).”
The complain alleges “MillerCoors seeks to mislead consumers” and “is causing confusion.”
Stone Brewing is seeking a permanent injunction and unspecified damages. MillerCoors didn’t immediately respond to our request for comment.