Anheuser-Busch, Inc. v. Caught-On-Bleu, Inc., Civ. 02-196-JD.

• Decision Date: 09 October 2003
• Docket Number: No. Civ. 02-196-JD.,Civ. 02-196-JD.
• Citation: 288 F.Supp.2d 105
• Parties: ANHEUSER-BUSCH, INC. v. CAUGHT-ON-BLEU, INC.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of New Hampshire

288 F.Supp.2d 105

ANHEUSER-BUSCH, INC. v. CAUGHT-ON-BLEU, INC.

No. Civ. 02-196-JD.

United States District Court, D. New Hampshire.

October 9, 2003.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Kimberly Ann Sutherland, Chicago, IL, for Robert Petit, Richard E Alder, John F Apel, Amy Bagans, William Baldree, William Barron, Arthur Block, John Bobko, George W. Bowness, Annette L Buday, Martin J Bugarin, Kenneth E Burke James L Cassidy, Jr, James Cavanaugh, Eugene T. Chudy, Michael Collins, Guido Colonna, Craig W Cristoe, Daniel Cunningham, William B Davis, Dennis P Degregorio, Daniel Dixon, James R Duckhorn, Michael Dunne, Sandra J Engemann, Angelo B Falbo, Thomas E Farrell, Dennis P Fitzgerald, John J Fitzgerald, Jerome Fluder, Bruno Gawel, Gregory Geisbush, Michael Golden, Albert Graf, Willaim K Grieb, James P Haggard, John Hayes, John Hermann, William Hinton, Ronald Hohenstein,

Dean Angelo, Chester Bach, Fred Barham, Donald J Barry, Catherine Bobis, Yolanda Bond, Edwin Budz, Daniel E Burke, Wayne Carlson, Richard Cauble, Harry Collins, Phillip Collins, Michael Conley, James Cummings, Lorelet Davis, Linda S Dean, John R Deheer, Mark P Donahue, Kevin B Duffin, Richard Elmer, Alan L Falasz, Thomas C Fallon, Robert C Fedanzo, John Fitzgerald, Thomas Flood, Robert J Frazin, James Goga, Philip Graziano, Robert G Hacker, Gerald V Hansen, John Henry, Geraldine Hinman, James T Hogan, George F Holmes, Richard R Holmes, John M Hussey, Kathleen J James, Tony H Jin, James Keating, Alan J Kern, Richard King, John P Koclanis, Robert Konrath, Frank R Krupa, Thomas E Krupowicz, Donald J La Bresh, Kenneth J Lazzara, James V Lupi, Neil Arresting Officer "Maas", Sheila M Magnus, James P Maloney, David M March, Andrew V Markulis, Marshall Massey, James Mathey, Raymond Mazzola, Patrick W McCarthy, Kenneth H McMaster, David M Merriam, James V Modesto, Jr, John N Nielson, Edward D O'Boyle, James B O'Leary, Bohdan Olijnyk, Joseph Pedersen, Donald Peterson, Paul T Praski, Azzie Roland, Peggy J Schulte, Jack Sherwin, Joseph R Signoretti, Edward Siwek, Alan Slakis, Roy Smith, Raymond Soltysiak, Jabulani Spraggins, Dorothy Stefan, Michael A Stephens, Patricia A Stube, Stanley F Surdej, Edward Swiderski, Allen E Szudarski, John Tolomeo, Lawrence Tuider, Donald Vetrovec, Stephen Vrtis, Len Washington, Milan Hrebenak, William A Jackson, Maryann Jankowski, Wayne A Johnson, Joseph P Kelly, Robert A Kero, Robert H Klich, Evelyn Kolerich, Garry J Krieger, Kenneth A Krupowicz, Lynn Kuehn, Robert M Labbe, Dorthoy E Lube, Timothy Lynn, Dennis S Maderak, Bernard Malloy, Gail Mangrum, Thomas Marcial, William Marose, Patrick Masuda, Harold Matuszak, H A McCarthy, Daniel McInerney, Brandon L Medow, Mary Jo Milam, Bruno J Muczynski, Anthony J Niemotka, Theodore J O'Connor, Donald J O'Neill, Robert Orlando, Francis G Pell, Bernard A Pistelli, Mario J Ramirez, Gregory A Salvi, Ronald H Shogren, Mary Siwak, Robert A Siwek, Charles M Smith, Milton L Sneed, CCornelius Spencer, Michael Stather, John P Stella, Alane Stoffregen, Patrick F Sullivan, James Sweeney, Robert A Swiderski, Marie Talkowski, Frederick C Tomasek, Louis Vernagallo, William Voight, Frank Vukonich, Richard Wasowski, Alan White, Maja Wiesinger, Edward Winstead, William N Woitowich, Joyce Wright, Donna J Young, James Zurawik, Richard Sherman, Clifford Bukendahl, (MW), John Erwin, (MW), Thomas Ginoza, (MW), Edward Griffin, (MW), John Janda, (MW), James Kuyken, (MW), Elmer Scarriot, (MW), John Zotto, (MW), Lawrence Aikin, Mark Halko, Gerald Ganey, Thomas Lonergan, David Nowak, Robert O'Loughlin, John Posluszny, Mario Ramirez, (MH), John Grill, (MW), Gene Tunno, (MW), Roger Roussell, (MW), Robert Rutherford, (MW), John Schaefer, (MW), Jerold Swarbrick, (MW), Henry Adema, John Baio, John Brya, David Goodrich, David Jarmusz, Kenny Lunsford, Karen Menegazzo Rowan, John Barton, Lawrence Casey, Chester Hycner, Charles Redman, David Suerth, Patrick Forrester, Thomas Deacy, Gwen Wheary.

Ronald A Bredemann, Crystal Lake, IL, for Ronald H Shogren, Mary Siwak, Robert A Siwek, Charles M Smith, Milton L Sneed, CCornelius Spencer, Michael Stather, John P Stella, Alane Stoffregen, Patrick F Sullivan, James Sweeney, Robert A Swiderski, Marie Talkowski, Frederick C Tomasek, Louis Vernagallo, William

Voight, Frank Vukonich, Richard Wasowski, Alan White, Maja Wiesinger, Edward Winstead, William N Woitowich, Joyce Wright, Donna J Young, James Zurawik, Richard Sherman, Clifford Bukendahl, (MW), John Erwin, (MW), Thomas Ginoza, (MW), Edward Griffin, (MW), John Janda, (MW), James Kuyken, (MW), Elmer Scarriot, (MW), John Zotto, (MW),

Adrienne L. Hiegel, Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw LLP, J. Paula Roderick, Earl L. Neal & Associates, Mary Catherine Cox, Andrew S. Mine, City of Chicago, Law Dept. Corp. Counsel, Michael A. Forti, Amy Renee Skaggs, City of Chicago, Dept. of Law, Chicago, IL, Peter Scott Rukin, New York, NY, for City of Chicago.

ORDER

DICLERICO, District Judge.

Anheuser-Busch, Inc. ("A-B") has sued Caught-on-Bleu, Inc. ("C-O-B") for trademark infringement, trademark dilution, and unfair competition under the Lanham Trademark Act of 1946, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1051-1127 ("the Lanham Act"), for trademark dilution under New Hampshire Revised Statutes Annotated ("RSA") 350-A:12, and for trademark infringement and unfair competition under common law. A-B moves for summary judgment on its claims for trademark infringement under Section 32 of the Lanham Act,¹ 15 U.S.C. § 1114(1) (count one), unfair competition under Section 43(a) of the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1125(a) (count two), and for dilution under RSA 350-A:12 (count four) (document no. 44).² C-O-B objects (document no. 57).

Background³

A. A-B's "Bud" Trademarks

A-B and its predecessors have brewed and marketed beer in the United States under the trademark "Budweiser" since 1876. Within a few years of the beer's introduction, the public came to refer to it as "Bud." As early as the 1930s, A-B began using the name "Bud" to market Budweiser, beginning by placing the word on beer taps distributed to bars and later incorporating other methods. A-B has capitalized on the Bud mark by creating a "family" of beers over time which use "Bud" in their names, including "Bud Light," "Bud Dry," and "Bud Ice."

The Budweiser mark has been federally registered since 1878 and is owned by A-B under United States Trademark Registration number 922,481 for beer, and number 952,277 for beer and malt liquor. Some of A-B's other federally registered trademarks for beer include "Bud," "Bud Man," "Bud Light," "Bud Bowl," "Bud Dry," and "Bud Ice."⁴ A-B sold more than 400 million barrels of beer under the Bud mark between 1996 and 2002, achieving more than $40 billion in sales. Bud Light and Budweiser have been the two best-selling brands of beer in the United States since 1994. These beers are sold to bars, restaurants, and package, grocery, and convenience stores in every state.

Both Budweiser and Bud Light bottles have labels with a scroll, seal, and field presented against a red background. These elements and the outline of the label itself appear in white on a Budweiser bottle and in silver on a Bud Light bottle. Budweiser bottles use blue cursive to set out the name of the beer, while those of Bud Light use blue block capitals outlined in white and red. Budweiser and Bud Light cans use designs similar to those of the bottles: Budweiser cans are white with a red frame around the scroll, seal, and a white field with blue cursive lettering, while Bud Light cans feature the beer's name in blue block capitals against a silver field and a silver scroll and seal with blue lettering against a red background. Many of A-B's promotional products are red in color with white lettering spelling out the name of one of the Bud marks.

A-B has extensively promoted the Bud mark in connection with its beers, spending more than $1 billion in advertising those products between 1999 and 2002 alone. The mark has been featured in thousands of television and radio commercials and print advertisements, as well as on billboards, race cars, and an airship. A-B has used the word "Bud" in slogans like "Nothing Beats a Bud," "This Bud's for You," and "Make it a Bud Light." The Bud marks also appear on a wide range of merchandise, including clothing, sporting goods, and glassware. These items are available through a mail order catalog at 1-800-PICK BUD (also a registered A-B mark) and online at www.BudShop.com>.

Elaborate advertising campaigns have centered around the Bud mark, including the "Bud Bowl" in which Budweiser and Bud Light teams comprised of beer cans and bottles play a football game over the course of commercial breaks before, during, or after the Super Bowl. The Bud Bowl began in 1989, and has been promoted over the years through print advertisements, point-of-sale displays, and an official website. A-B has gone so far as to anoint some of the Bud Bowl players with names, including "Billy Bud," a star running back.

B. COB's "Billy Budd" Mark

It was a dark and stormy night in November 1995 when COB's president, Lisamarie Sapuppo-Bertrand, first thought of naming a product after Billy Budd, the title character from Herman Melville's posthumously published and unfinished work Billy Budd, Sailor (An Inside Narrative). Sapuppo-Bertrand shared her thought with Bernice Keeney, C-O-B's vice president, during a conversation that night about, inter alia, the labels of products like wine and salad dressing. Impressed by "Billy Budd" as a "manly name," the two considered it as a brand name for shampoo, cologne, and "maybe several other products" before deciding to use it for a beer. Keeney Dep. at 51-52. At that time, Keeney was aware that A-B used the Bud mark in connection with beer.

Nearly two years later, on October 28, 1997, C-O-B's predecessor-in-interest applied to register a "Billy Budd" mark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The application described the design as a "sailor steering a ship on...