Page 22 - Beverage Master_AprMay2022

Craft Brewery
Craft Brewery
explained below, the operating agreement should market is going to oppose the application or use of
be drafted by an attorney and in some cases the the mark, it is better to find out as soon as possible
attorney may offer a package that includes creation and preferably before spending money on develop-
of the operating agreement along with creating ing a brand image, signage, and customer recogni-
and filing the articles of organization. Though it tion of the name.
varies state-to-state, the filing fees for Articles of
Organization are typically $100-200 and it generally Many breweries attempt to register their trade-
takes 2-3 weeks for the application to be accepted marks themselves and sometimes they are suc-
by the state, though it can sometimes be expedited cessful. But, even registration of the mark does
for an additional fee. not ensure freedom-to-operate using the name.
Competitors may attempt to cancel the mark
Once the corporate entity is formed, the business post-registration or may have developed common
can apply for an Employer Identification Number law trademark rights based on prior usage of the
(EIN) using the free online form on the IRS website. name even though it was never federally registered.
The EIN is needed to then open a bank account in A skilled trademark attorney will conduct a thor-
the name of the business. ough “clearance search” before filing an application
to uncover potential obstacles to registration or
Trademarks problematic common law usage.
In addition, there are many technical requirements
There are two reasons why filing for federal trade- governing how applications for trademark regis-
mark registration should be the next step. First, tration must be filed. It is common for trademark
prior to the COVID pandemic, it generally took at applications filed without an attorney to be reject-
least eight months to secure trademark registration. ed based on a technical flaw and then abandoned
Post-COVID, it is now taking closer to one year, at a because the applicant did not know how to fix the
minimum. Second, if there is going to be a problem problem.
getting the mark registered or a competitor in the

20 April - May 2022 BEVERAGE MASTER

BM040522 Main Pages.indd 20 3/25/22 1:25 PM