Iowa brewery fight: Who owns the name No Coast?

A fight over craft beer names is brewing in southern Iowa.

Knoxville-based Peace Tree Brewing, which makes a beer called No Coast IPA, is crying foul that a new brewery called NoCoast Beer Co. is opening in Oskaloosa.

Both breweries have claimed the "no coast" name.

Peace Tree used the name first. It started serving No Coast IPA, its second most popular beer, in 2013.

But NoCoast Beer Co. is working to trademark the name. It applied in December for federal trademarks on NoCoast, NoCoast Brewery and NoCoast Brewing Co. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has given a notice of allowance, its initial approval of NoCoast's requests.

The name dispute highlights a tricky part of working in a booming industry: As more breweries open and release new beers, it's becoming harder to come up with unique names.

“These little fights happen all the time, although it’s usually inadvertent,” said Dave Ropte, president of the Iowa Brewers Guild and owner of 515 Brewing Co. in Clive.

Peace Tree owner Megan McKay said she wants to protect the name of her beer. Imagine the confusion, she said, if someone walks into an Iowa bar and orders a No Coast.

“It’s costly to develop brands; it’s even more costly to defend them,” she said in a message to friends and customers. “We are exploring our legal options and the best course of action for our company.”

Jason Friedman, an attorney for NoCoast Beer Co., argued that Peace Tree is blowing the issue out of proportion. NoCoast will not produce an IPA, and all of its beers will have their own names, so there should be no confusion, he said.

One legal expert, though, says Peace Tree has a claim, because it used the term first.

“I don’t think it’s quite accurate to say (NoCoast) owns the trademark,” said Shontavia Johnson, director of the Intellectual Property Law Center at Drake University. “Most typically with trademarks, the first person to use that mark has the trademark.”

NoCoast is no garage operation. It is owned by an affiliate of Mahaska Bottling Co., an Oskaloosa company that bottles and distributes Pepsi and other drinks. Its distribution network spans the Midwest from Dallas to Chicago, and also includes California and New York.

Friedman said NoCoast Beer Co. can actually help grow breweries like Peace Tree. Mahaska Bottling wants to contract with other Iowa breweries to can and distribute their beers.

“They can provide inroads to markets that Peace Tree, for example, currently can’t get into,” he said.

The dispute is already rippling through Iowa’s craft beer community. NoCoast had planned to host a launch party Wednesday at the Iowa Tap Room in Des Moines, but owner Jeff Bruning decided Wednesday morning to postpone the event.

He owns several craft beer bars in the city and said he doesn't want to get in the middle of the fight.

“It’s a bad situation all the way around,” he said.

Disputes over beer names are common in the craft brewing industry, said Ropte of the brewers guild. Most of the obvious names are taken.

Good luck coming up with a new beer name with hops in the name, he said.

Usually the disputes end amicably, with one party agreeing to change, but occasionally it comes to legal action.

Last year, 515 named a beer Pallet Jack, only to learn an Oregon brewery was already using the name. When 515 was alerted to the faux paus, it renamed the beer Pallet Parking.

"You sure don't want to go all-in on a brand unless you know it is OK with everyone involved," he said.

McKay, Peace Tree’s owner, said she thinks the similar name is no accident. The two breweries are less than 30 miles apart and before NoCoast announced its name, its brewer toured Peace Tree’s facility.

“It would be pretty hard for it to be a coincidence,” McKay said.

But Friedman, the NoCoast Beer Co. attorney, said the name was developed by an Oregon marketing company.

Friedman also pointed out that Peace Tree is not the first to use the name No Coast. California-based North Coast Brewing Co. commonly goes by No. Coast Brewing. Wisconsin-based New Glarus Brewing Company has a beer called No Coast Pale Ale, but the brewery more commonly calls the beer Moon Man.

The frequency of name disputes shows why it is important for companies like craft breweries to apply for trademarks if they have a name they really like, said Johnson, the trademark expert.

“This happens, quite frankly, a lot with smaller companies,” she said.

NoCoast plans to open a taproom this winter in Oskaloosa. It will start distributing kegs this week and will begin canning its beer next month. The Oskaloosa brewery operates a 20-barrel brewing system, similar size Peace Tree.

Peace Tree, meanwhile, is moving ahead with its own expansion. It plans to open a taproom and second brewing facility in December in Des Moines' East Village.