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A trademark registration does not come with an eraser for the other words in somebody else’s brand.

Sutter Home Winery’s BANDIT mark stood in the way of Roar Spirits’ applications to register EL BANDIDO YANKEE and EL BANDIDO YANKEE TEQUILA COMPANY BLANCO. The opposition succeeded before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. Roar sought review in federal district court and lost again. Then it appealed.

On October 29, the Ninth Circuit reversed in Roar Spirits, LLC v. Sutter Home Winery, Inc., No. 25-2301 (9th Cir. Oct. 29, 2026). Its central observation deserves attention from beverage brands facing an…
Continue Reading El Bandido Yankee Fights Back: Ninth Circuit Reverses Sutter Home’s Trademark Win

A supplier or distributor offers a retailer something valuable. The promotion works. The retailer buys more of the promoted product and less from a competitor. An investigator points to the benefit and the displaced purchases and calls the arrangement unlawful.

Under the federal tied-house and commercial-bribery provisions examined in Fedway, that reasoning leaves out the central issue: a threat to the buyer’s independence. Offering value does not establish that threat. Winning business from a competitor does not establish it either. Suppliers and distributors should challenge an enforcement theory that treats either fact, or both together, as the entire violation.

Our…
Continue Reading Throwback Friday: What Fedway Teaches Suppliers and Distributors About Defending Against Trade Practice Claims

Sending a termination notice does not empty a warehouse, transfer a trademark, update a brand website, or put the next distributor in business. Somebody still has to sell the wine, and the agreement should spell out what both sides owe each other until the relationship is fully done and the handoff to the next distributor is complete.

How a breakup became a lawsuit

Winebow began distributing Italian producer Franz Haas’s KRIS wines in 2006 and acquired a 49% interest in two KRIS trademarks. A 2023 Italian arbitration award declared the supply agreement “dissolved on the 24th of October 2021,” but…
Continue Reading KRIS and Winebow: Selling the Wine While Fighting Over the Exit And How to Get There

Scott McNutt wants to distill at home and says he is “willing to pay whatever tax is needed.” On October 19, 2026, the Supreme Court agreed to hear his challenge to the federal home distilling ban in Department of Justice v. McNutt. 

Let’s put a number on that tax: assuming lawful home production could qualify for the Craft Beverage Modernization Act’s reduced federal rate, the tax would be $2.70 per proof gallon on the first 100,000 proof gallons removed annually. A proof gallon equals one U.S. gallon at 100 proof, or its alcohol equivalent. At 80 proof, that’s…
Continue Reading Supreme Court Takes Up the Home Distilling Ban. Can Congress Ban Your Home Still to Collect the Tax?

The decision to initiate a lawsuit should never be made without careful consideration. While often necessary and sometimes a last resort, filing a lawsuit or becoming a defendant in a lawsuit has many consequences for you and your business, some of which may not be welcomed. Being a party to a lawsuit is a public record available to competitors and others, may need to be disclosed to non-involved parties, and may constitute a breach of other agreements. This decision is even more complicated when suing a family member as it could have lasting family relationship consequences and as family disputes…
Continue Reading Suing Family Members

For parents whose wealth is tied up in farmland, providing for every child while preserving the operation can be one of the hardest parts of succession planning. You may have one child who wants to continue farming and others who have built lives elsewhere. You want the operation to survive, but you also want every child to know they matter.
A workable plan starts by defining what you want each child to receive and testing whether the farm can support that outcome. Dividing every asset into identical shares is only one approach, and it may not fit your family’s needs.
Continue Reading How Do You Leave the Farm to One Child Without Leaving the Others Out?

Inheriting a farm with siblings: what if one wants to sell? For an Illinois family, that question can turn a shared inheritance into a difficult conversation about money, memories, and someone’s livelihood. One sibling may depend on the farm for income. Another may live several states away and need their inheritance to pay bills or prepare for retirement. Neither position is automatically unreasonable, but finding a workable solution takes more than agreeing to “figure it out later.”
One sibling’s desire to sell does not automatically mean the entire farm must be sold. The options depend on how the property is…
Continue Reading Inheriting a Farm With Siblings: What If One Wants to Sell?

A “100% agave” label tells buyers something about how their tequila was made. Does Mexico’s certification prevent an American court from examining whether that representation is true? The dismissal of the Costco tequila lawsuit gives certification that effect. But, respectfully, the court likely got this wrong.

In Salisbury v. Costco Wholesale Corp., No. C25-2277-KKE (W.D. Wash. Oct. 16, 2026), the Judge dismissed claims challenging Kirkland tequila’s “100% de Agave” labeling. The order finds “dismissal with prejudice is warranted under both the international comity and act of state doctrines.” Those grounds ended the case without resolving the competing scientific claims…
Continue Reading Costco’s Tequila Win: Why “100% Agave” Should Remain a Testable Claim

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Buy the domain before you file the trademark application or announce the beverage brand. Otherwise, your competitor might acquire it, redirect visitors to its own website, and answer your request for its return with “We will offer it to you for $1 B” and a laughing emoji. That happened in the BuzzBallz–Big Sipz fight. The web addresses eventually changed hands for free; the embarrassment earned a permanent place in a federal court opinion. (Order, pp. 3–5.)

“$1 B ” — BuzzBallz’s joking response after Big Sipz discovered that its competitor had acquired its domain name. The exchange appears…
Continue Reading BuzzBallz v. Big Sipz: Buy the Domain Before Your Competitor Does

Beer Wolf looks like the eighties forgot to close their tab. The bandana. The women in bikinis. The unmistakable air of a creature who would explain your own drink to you, then ask whether your boyfriend was around. You can practically smell the tanning oil and the motel bar carpet. Bringing him back to sell T-shirts was a choice. Giving him a federal court docket really completed the comeback.

Why revive this guy? Let him run wild. Somewhere, a beach bar still has a wet T-shirt contest and a malfunctioning ice machine. First, a few exhibits from his advertising career.
Continue Reading Beer Wolf Trademark Lawsuit:A Licensing Deal Bites Back

It is a misconception that estate planning is only appropriate when you are old or wealthy. Starting your estate planning early, like retirement planning, has substantial benefits and addresses both your immediate and long-term needs. Particularly new families should begin estate planning early.
Some issues to address in early estate planning include:

  • Guardianship of children and others in the event of death or disability.
  • Caretaking for others for whom you are responsible.
  • Funding those who will care for your children and others.
  • Deciding asset division before marriage, particularly for blended families.
  • Avoiding the delays and costs of probate.
  • Determining how

…
Continue Reading Early Estate Planning

A beer distribution agreement can promise a 30-day exit without supplying a lawful basis for termination and the whole mechanism and contract can get written in blatant contravention of a state’s beer franchise laws. A recent Florida beer distributor termination dispute shows why brewers and wholesalers should read the franchise statute alongside the contract, and why their lawyers should do the same before sending termination notices or briefing their rights to do so.

In Titan Products of Puerto Rico Corp. v. Compañía Cervecera de Puerto Rico, Inc., Judge Julie S. Sneed denied both sides’ summary-judgment motions on October 15,…
Continue Reading Before a Brewer Terminates: Lessons from Titan’s Florida Franchise Fight

Retailer returns could turn Illinois’ November 12 hemp deadline into a warehouse problem for beverage distributors. A store sends back unsold THC drinks, the distributor issues a credit, and the cases wait for the supplier’s truck. If that truck arrives after the deadline, the distributor may have cleared the retailer’s account while keeping the regulatory problem.

The Illinois Department of Revenue’s new hemp bulletin, announced October 14, gives suppliers and wholesalers a reason to settle those arrangements now. IDOR confirms that Illinois plans to begin enforcement on November 12 “regardless of the federal government’s delay of related enforcement.” The…
Continue Reading Illinois’ Hemp Deadline: Don’t Let Retailer Returns Become Your Warehouse Problem

How far before the wedding should Illinois farmers start a prenup? Early enough for both people to understand the farm’s finances, discuss what they want the agreement to accomplish, and review its terms without a wedding deadline hanging over them. A farm prenup may involve land, business ownership, family expectations, and a future inheritance. Those questions can take time to sort through.
Illinois does not set a required number of days before the wedding for signing a prenuptial agreement. But waiting until the final days can make a difficult conversation more stressful and leave less room for thoughtful review. The better…
Continue Reading How Far Before the Wedding Should Illinois Farmers Start a Prenup?

Farm Succession Planning Checklist: What to Gather Before Meeting With an Attorney begins with a simple task: write down what makes the farm run. That includes more than the land. Equipment may belong to a business, acreage may be leased, and a loan may depend on the current owner’s involvement. Your attorney needs to see those pieces together to help you plan what happens when you retire, become unable to manage the operation, or die.
You do not need a perfect binder before making an appointment. Start with what you have, note what is missing, and bring your questions. The…
Continue Reading Farm Succession Planning Checklist: What to Gather Before Meeting With an Attorney

Coors Distributing Company’s Colorado fight with Crown Imports and Constellation shows how a termination-payment clause can help a supplier argue for ending distribution before an arbitrator decides whether the exit violates the law. Our earlier post challenged the suppliers’ reading of Colorado’s 90-day termination provision. The new injunction briefing highlights risks in beer distributor termination provisions. We examine those risks and offer our own sample contract language addressing buyout payments and preserving distributors’ remedies.

What the New Coors Filings Reveal

Crown and Constellation filed their opposition on October 2. At the October 14 hearing, Denver District Judge Adam J. Espinosa…
Continue Reading Coors’ Colorado Fight: What Beer Distributors Should Fix Before a Supplier Leaves