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Guns N’ Roses settle lawsuit accusing brewery of trademark infringement

Guns ‘N’ Rosé will likely be canned.

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Image: Kevin Mazur / Getty Images for Live Nation

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Guns N’ Roses have agreed to settle a lawsuit they had filed against Oskar Blues, the brewery behind the Guns ‘N’ Rosé ale and related merchandise.

In the lawsuit filed this May, the band – in this case Axl Rose, Slash and Duff McKagan – accused the Colorado-based brewery of trademark infringement. Both parties have on 31 July agreed to settle, and are working on the terms of the settlement and the lawsuit’s dismissal, reports Reuters.

GN’R claimed Oskar Blues’ beer and merch – which includes T-shirts, pint glasses and bandannas – “infring[ed] products and intentionally trade[d] on GN’R’s goodwill, prestige, and fame without GN’R’s approval, license, or consent”. Consumers, the rock group also alleged, would be mistakenly led into believing that the band and the beer were connected.

After the beer launched in late 2018, GN’R’s representatives made contact with the brewery to iron out the matter. However, the talks bore no fruit.

A letter from Oskar Blues’ law firm, sent on January, reaffirmed that “our client’s use of Guns ‘N’ Rosé for beer does not infringe GN’R’s marks. GN’R does not own a trademark registration for Guns N’ Roses for beer or any alcohol beverages. GN’R has not made any use of the mark Guns N’ Roses in connection with alcohol beverages. It thus has no rights to the mark in connection with beer or other alcohol beverages”.

In other boozy guitar news, Bootsy Collins recently launched a ‘signature IPA’ in collaboration with the Fretboard Brewing Company.

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