Campari Loses ‘David and Goliath’ Legal Battle Against British Microbrewery Accused of Aping SKYY Vodka

(Photo: Dark Sky Brewery)

The Telegraph reports that Campari Group, the international spirits giant behind Aperol, Espolon Tequila and more, has lost a trademark dispute against an English microbrewery it accused of imitating an American vodka brand.

The battle first took shape in 2022 when Campari lodged a suit against Dark Sky Brewery. The brand had been founded the same year by Steve White, a crime commissioner in Middleton-in-Teesdale who had begun selling his craft IPAs to local pubs. Little did White know, Dark Sky Brewery quickly came to the attention of SKYY Vodka, a spirits imprint acquired by Campari in 2009.

Lawyers representing Campari went on to wage an eighteen-month legal battle against White in which his brewery name and labeling were accused of aping the popular vodka. White — who reportedly represented himself throughout most of the proceedings — argued that reasonable consumers would never confuse the two brands.

When the suit was initially filed, White told the Teesdale Mercury:

“Campari are trying to stop me. It’s utter rubbish. The way the process works companies have two months after they have registered the trademark to put in an objection. Solicitors in New York, acting for Campari, waited until the last day and lodged a formal objection. They are concerned that customers are going to confuse my beer for their SKYY Vodka.”

White later termed it “a classic David and Goliath battle.”

Founded in 1860, Campari Group has grown from an Italian aperitif manufacturer to an international spirits titan. In addition to its signature red-tinted liqueurs, the company heads up varied brands including Appleton Estate Rum, Wild Turkey Bourbon, Courvoisier Cognac and Bulldog Gin. As of June, Campari Group was conservatively valued at over $18 billion.

Regulators seemed to agree with White’s biblical description of the dispute. In addition to the basic differences between beer and vodka, the court wrote that it “did not consider that the common element, being the word Sky is so strikingly distinctive that the average consumer would expect only one undertaking to be using it,” The Telegraph reports.

Trademark lawsuits are a dime a dozen within the industry, often pitting completely unrelated alcohol brands against one another under the pretense of vaguely similar naming.

In the Southern District of Texas, Mezcal Amaras is currently duking it out against Peruvian pisco maker Topa Spirits over the disputed use of the phrase “logia.” Elsewhere, Casa Dragones Tequila has filed a lawsuit against beer and spirits brand Dragon’s Milk over its use of the eponymous mythical creature. In many such cases, dissimilar alcohols become unlikely enemies in the court of law.

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