Dankr.ca – Your Toronto Connection
Article by , Growth Op
In a legal showdown between Big Booze and Big Bud, French liqueur manufacturer Rémy Cointreau has filed a lawsuit against Canadian cannabis giant Canopy Growth. According to a report by Thomson Reuters, the complaint filed last week in the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of New York contends that Canopy’s line of recently launched CBD-infused sparkling drinks, which the licensed producer calls “Quatreau,” sounds too similar to “Cointreau” and, thereby, constitutes a trademark infringement.
Citing the similar pronunciations of the two beverages, the orange-flavoured liqueur maker alleges in the suit that the “defendants have adopted the QUATREAU mark with the intention of unfairly trading off the goodwill and reputation of the COINTREAU mark.”
According to Marijuana Business Daily, Canopy’s drink (pronounced “Kwatro”) sounds so similar to Cointreau’s brand name (pronounced “Kwantro”) that “confusion is inevitable.” The company further contends that “continued use by defendants of QUATREAU will consequently cause irreparable damage to plaintiffs’ COINTREAU brand,” Reuters reports. Cointreau has been sold in the U.S. since 1885.
Because both beverages are sold “at on-premises locations such as bars, restaurants, and lounges, where products are frequently ordered by voice alone,” that the “aural similarity” of the two beverage names “is likely to lead to confusion,” Cointreau Corp. also reportedly claims in the lawsuit.
Canopy’s Quatreau line of beverages is currently sold in the U.S., and contains CBD, but no THC.
The lawsuit alleges that Cointreau’s intention to branch out into selling non-alcoholic beverages will further muddy the waters, per Reuters. “Thus, not only will products bearing the Cointreau mark appear alongside Quatreau CBD products on the same shelves in the marketplace, but consumers recognize that both Cointreau and Quatreau waters could be sold,” the suit reportedly reads.
