Why hasn't Fox sued makers of Duff Beer? (UPDATED)
Mon Dec 07, 2009 @ 02:06AM PSTBy Eriq Gardner
UPDATE BELOW
Fox hasn't yet filed a claim against Tijuana-based Simpson's Brewing Company, makers of the new Duff Beer. But we imagine that it's only a matter of time. Fox reportedly once filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against a line of Duff beer in Australia in the late 1990s, and it's been aggressive in cracking down on knockoff "Simpsons" merchandise (although we once bought a remarkably lifelike yet certainly unlicensed Bart Simpson pinata in line at the Mexican border).
A better question is this: Why hasn't Fox licensed any beverage maker to brew Duff Beer yet? Maybe Fox owner Rupert Murdoch is too busy saving the journalism business to realize there's lots of gold in a marketable Duff Beer product. Or perhaps the company doesn't want to send the message to its younger viewers that it supports unhealthy behavior like beer-drinking. As Homer Simpson once said, "To alcohol — the cause of...and solution to...all of life's problems."
UPDATE: We're not giving Murdoch's lawyers enough credit. We hear Fox has initiated Duff Beer-related legal actions in at least four countries:
In Spain there is a lawsuit pending against a local distributor called Duff Europe-Asia with a trial date set for early 2010.
In Belgium, a suit is pending against a European brewery that was manufacturing Duff Beer.
UPDATE: We're not giving Murdoch's lawyers enough credit. We hear Fox has initiated Duff Beer-related legal actions in at least four countries:
In Spain there is a lawsuit pending against a local distributor called Duff Europe-Asia with a trial date set for early 2010.
In Belgium, a suit is pending against a European brewery that was manufacturing Duff Beer.
In Argentina, Fox got a preliminary injunction against local distributors and is moving forward with the lawsuit.
And in Mexico, there is a preliminary injunction in place against a man named Jesus Diaz (and a seizure of offending product was apparently carried out late last week). That's not the same person as Rodrigo Contreras, the Duff brewer in the Financial Times story that prompted this post, but we imagine Murdoch's forces will soon descend on him as well.
And in Mexico, there is a preliminary injunction in place against a man named Jesus Diaz (and a seizure of offending product was apparently carried out late last week). That's not the same person as Rodrigo Contreras, the Duff brewer in the Financial Times story that prompted this post, but we imagine Murdoch's forces will soon descend on him as well.
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