Adolph Coors Co. v. A. Genderson & Sons, Inc.
| Decision Date | 05 March 1980 |
| Docket Number | Civ. A. No. 76-K-1082. |
| Citation | 486 F. Supp. 131 |
| Parties | ADOLPH COORS COMPANY, a Corporation of Colorado, Plaintiff, v. A. GENDERSON & SONS, INC., a Corporation of Maryland, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Colorado |
Leo N. Bradley, Golden, Colo., Bruce G. Klaas, Denver, Colo., for plaintiff.
Robert B. Keating, Denver, Colo., for defendant.
This is an action for statutory and common law trademark infringement and unfair competition. Plaintiff seeks relief in the nature of a permanent injunction and an order of this court requiring destruction of all Coors beer, containers and packaging in the possession of or under the control of defendant. The parties have stipulated to the following facts:
1. Adolph Coors Company is a Colorado corporation having its principal place of business in Golden, Colorado.
2. A. Genderson & Sons, Inc., is a Maryland corporation authorized to do business in the State of Colorado, and at all times herein held a valid Federal Basic Permit as a beer wholesaler, as well as other licenses authorizing it to do business.
3. This is an action under the United States Trademark Act of 1946, the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C.S. § 1051, et seq. for trademark infringement with a request for injunctive relief, the Court having jurisdiction under 15 U.S.C.S. § 1121 and 28 U.S. C.S. § 1338(a) and under C.R.S.1973, §§ 7-9-119, 13-1-124, 13-1-125, and related causes of action.
4. Adolph Coors Company is the owner of United States Trademark Registration Nos. 519,209, 654,932 and 671,933. (references omitted). The Company now uses and for long periods of time prior to the issuance of the registration set forth in paragraph 3 has used the trademarks protected by said registrations in connection with the distribution and sale of Coors beer and is the owner and beneficiary of all the goodwill associated with the trademarks of those registrations.
5. Coors beer is manufactured by Adolph Coors Company at its only brewery located in Golden, Colorado. The beer is sold in the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming through distributors authorized by the Company, all of whom follow quality control procedures established by the Company. Coors beer is sold in containers and packages having Adolph Coors Company trademarks and trade name thereon. These trademarks and trade name are well known by purchasers and potential purchasers throughout the United States who uniquely associate the trademarks and trade name of beer manufactured, distributed and sold by Adolph Coors Company.
6. Adolph Coors Company has advertised its beer in all types of media and various articles. As a result, people throughout the United States are familiar with the trademarks and trade name of Coors and with Coors beer. These persons throughout the United States, as a result of distribution of Coors beer in the 16-state marketing area set forth in paragraph 5 have had occasion to purchase and consume Coors beer and are familiar with the trademark Coors. A high level of goodwill among purchasers of beer throughout the United States has been developed, and that goodwill is associated with the trademark of Coors.
7. Adolph Coors Company, through no fault of its own and for good business reasons, has been unable to manufacture sufficient quantities of Coors beer to meet the public demand throughout the United States of America. The Company manufactures and distributes this beer, which is not heat pasteurized, in accordance with certain high quality standards designed to obtain, maintain and preserve a uniquely high quality beer product and to assure the availability of high quality beer to the purchasers of Coors beer.
8. (Reference omitted). Additionally, the time limit imposed by Coors on its distributors is that no beer should remain in retail stores after 60 days from packaging, and, to this end, the cartons and cases are stamped with abbreviated month, day, and hour being the maximum time that the beer may be made available to the public. Each distributor is required to remove, at its cost, beer bearing dates exceeding 60 days from the retailer's store and is required to destroy the same. No requirements are imposed by Coors upon the retail store regarding manner of storage, either with or without refrigeration, although they are encouraged to refrigerate, if lawful, by Coors. No instructions are placed on the Coors cans, bottles, cartons or packs advising the consumer to refrigerate the product.
9. Coors beer is a relatively delicate perishable product subject to flavor deterioration if stored for lengthy periods without proper refrigeration, and for this reason distributors of Coors ship from the brewery in refrigerated or insulated carriers and limit the time of sale after storage in refrigerated warehouses and delivery in refrigerated or insulated delivery trucks. The system of manufacturing and distributing of Coors beer is known throughout the United States by beer distributors and retailers. The general public recognizes the high quality of Coors beer and the trademark Coors is uniquely associated throughout the United States with Adolph Coors Company and its extraordinary high quality standards of manufacturing. The public has no way to determine the quality of Coors beer by inspection at the time of purchase and, therefore, must rely on the reputation of Coors beer for high quality.
10. On repeated occasions during the last several years, Genderson has purchased large quantities of Coors beer from licensed retailers in the State of Colorado and other states, upon the payment of retail prices and applicable taxes, for the purpose of transporting the same to Maryland and other states close by for sale to retailers and other distributors in those areas. Genderson did not deliberately alter or change the original package, case, carton, can, bottle or the beer contained therein and made no changes in the identifying trademarks on the product or packages. Transportation, storage and sale of the beer by Genderson has been done without making any effort to maintain the quality control standards of Coors. Genderson and its customers have used the trademark of Coors in connection with the distribution and sale of Coors beer without authorization of Adolph Coors Company.
11. Genderson, at no time, represented to third persons that he and his company were in fact authorized distributors of Adolph Coors Company. Genderson did place an ad in the yellow pages of the telephone book stating that Genderson & Sons were wholesale distributors of beer, and then listing the brand name of said beer, including the name, Coors. (Reference omitted). Genderson did distribute to retailers to place in their windows signs saying "Coors is here". (Reference omitted). The Genderson warehouse does not display any Coors signs, and the delivery trucks of Genderson do not display the name, Coors.
12. Some of Genderson's customers, namely retail package stores and other beer wholesalers, may have known that Genderson was not an authorized distributor of Coors, in that Coors, on April 18, 1977, sent a letter to retailers in the Washington, D.C. area, advising them of an ad that was going to be placed in the Washington, D.C. paper and furnishing them with a copy of said ad. (Reference omitted.) Some of the consumers purchasing Coors from retailers, as a result of the ad and other sources, may have known that Washington, D.C. and the state of Maryland were not in the regular Coors market and distribution area.
13. The distribution and sale of Coors beer by Genderson and its customers over long periods of time absent refrigeration has caused a loss of the high quality and freshness of Coors beer as it has been manufactured, resulting in the sale to the public of Coors beer in an unfit condition and inferior quality, all of which severely damages the good reputation of Coors beer and causes a loss of goodwill of Adolph Coors Company because of the beer being held in disrepute by purchasers of Coors beer in this condition. Genderson, all during its operations as set forth herein, has had knowledge of the high quality standards maintained by Adolph Coors Company for its beer. The Coors beer being so distributed and sold by Genderson and its customers is in the original containers so as to be identical in appearance to the Coors beer distributed and sold by Adolph Coors Company and its authorized distributors, so the public has no means of distinguishing between the two. In the distribution and sale of Coors beer in this manner there exists the potential effect of diverting trade from the Adolph Coors Company to its competitors, causing Coors beer to be held in disrepute resulting in a loss of goodwill and irreparable damage and also has the potential effect of subjecting Adolph Coors Company to product liability type claims for damages.
14. Genderson's use of the trademark Coors constitutes a representation that the beer distributed and sold by Genderson and its customers has been subjected to the same high quality and freshness standards ordinarily specified by Coors and is of the same high quality and freshness as the beer distributed by authorized distributors and sold by retailers receiving Coors beer directly from authorized distributors.
15. Coors is now using and has for a long time prior to the acts of Genderson used the trade name Adolph Coors Company on all containers and packaging for Coors beer manufactured and distributed by Adolph Coors Company.
16. The Adolph Coors Company has obtained and owns State of Colorado Trademark Registration No. T12938 (Reference omitted). Genderson has made arrangements in the State of Colorado to acquire and has in fact acquired large quantities of Coors beer in the State of Colorado for transportation and distribution in other states by...
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