Rex Bell, creator of STAR BOCK beer, is raising the bar on his trademark infringement case.

In August of this year, a district court judged ruled that Bell’s use of the mark and the sale of the beer did not infringe the Starbuck’s coffee trademark.

The Judge, however, put a number of restrictions on Bell’s use of the trademark, that Bell believes are inapposite to the holding. For instance, while the Judge noted that there was no dilution of the Starbuck’s trademark and no likelihood of confusion between the marks. Still, it limited Bell’s use of the mark to Galveston Island, Texas, and to establishments where the beer would be sold “in conjunction with musical activities.”

The term “bock” is descriptive for a specific type of beer, a lager that is brewed traditionally in the fall. The term “star” as used by this Texas purveyor, appears to be more related to his “lone star” roots than any Starbuck’s reference. Finally, Bell uses no green or black in his logo, which characterize the Starbuck’s logo. Indeed, about the only two things the companies appear to have in common is they both provide a “buzz” in one form or another. While Starbuck’s does not currently make beer, the company has sold a coffee liquor for a number of years. We anxiously await the outcome.

Kraft Foods, which markets drinks under the Capri Sun label, got a clean bill of health this week from the Children’s Advertising Review Unit, (“CARU”), which requested the food conglomerate substantiate its claims that its childrens sports drink “hydrates better than water.”

Kraft provided CARU with a study conducted at the University of Georgia that found Kraft’s sports drink actually helped to keep healthy, active children hydrated better than water alone. In addition to the foregoing, Kraft provided CARU with information collected from several associations devoted to athletics that had come to the same conclusion; namely, that drinking sports drinks, especially during prolonged intentive exercise, can help children stay hydrated.

Practice Pointer: Counsel should encourage its corporate clients to engage in whatever forms of industry self-regulation are available. Not only is the process generally faster and cheaper than being subjected to a private action or an FTC investigation, but it encourages Congress to allow the self-regulatory process to proceed, rather than enacting statutes that may hinder commercial progress.

The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board issued a recent decision upholding the examiner’s refusal to register the color RED for non-functional plastic training equipment shaped like knives, flashlights, pistols, and other objects used for training law enforcement personnel.

The company, Armament Systems, colored all of its “toy” weapons and armament items in a bright red. This was done, Armament said, to distinguish it immediately from actual firemarms or other functional pieces of equipment. The TTAB, in affirming the examining attorney’s refusal to register the color, noted that there were obvious safety advantages to using the color red, and as such, the color must remain available to manufacturers of competitive equipment for their use.

The decision is interesting in that the TTAB used as evidence against Armament its own cease and decist letters to third parties. These letters were sent to other law enforcement training companies who had been using red on their training equipment prior to getting the letters. Armament introduced the letter into evidence to show that in fact, competitors did not need to use red; all of them had changed their color as a result of receiving the letters. The TTAB found, however, that not using the color red actually put Armament’s competitors at a distinct disadvantage since red was the color associated with safety by law enforcement personnel.