MillerCoors: Blue Moon ‘Craft Beer’ Class Action Lawsuit Should Be Dismissed

This week, in the class action lawsuit alleging that MillerCoors LLC misled consumers into believing Blue Moon beer is a craft beer, MillerCoors argued that it did not keep the source of the beverage a secret.

Lead plaintiff Evan Parent alleges in his class action lawsuit filed in April that he frequently purchased Blue Moon beer with the understanding that it “was a microbrew or ‘craft’ beer” based on “its advertising, its placement among other craft beers, and the premium price” that he paid for it. He further argues that MillerCoors deliberately misled him and other consumers into thinking Blue Moon was a craft beer to pay the premium price, when, in fact, it is produced en masse at the Coors Brewery.

This week, MillerCoors shot back, filing a motion to dismiss the Blue Moon class action lawsuit. In its motion, MillerCoors argues that it appropriately disclosed that it owns the Blue Moon brand and there is no way the plaintiff could have been deceived into thinking that Blue Moon was made by a small “craft” brewery.

MillerCoors contends that the definition of “craft beer” the plaintiff uses is “ever-changing” and created by a trade group called the Brewers’ Association that does not have any regulatory authority. MillerCoors argues further that the term “craft beer” does not have a standard definition. “‘Craft beer’ is not a standard, in other words, against which beer can be judged in the way that champagne is sparkling wine from the Champagne region in France,” the company argues.

MillerCoors also points out in its motion to dismiss the class action that the Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau has sanctioned the Blue Moon Brewing Co. allowing the use of either a brewer’s true name or trade name on labels of the product. According to the plaintiff’s class action lawsuit, the Blue Moon website does not reference MillerCoors, while the MillerCoors website features Blue Moon.

MillerCoors also argues that registering a trademark serves as constructive notice of ownership under federal law in its motion. MillerCoors argues that a reasonable consumer would not be confused by its use of another of its trademarked phrase “Artfully Crafted” in commercials. “The advertisements, which consistently include brushstroke artwork, reveal that ‘Artfully Crafted’ is a colorful description of how Blue Moon beer was developed (including later varietals) and reflect the Blue Moon advertising theme that brewing is an art,” MillerCoors writes in its motion.

“Plaintiff fancies himself a beer aficionado and claims that he stopped purchasing Blue Moon once his friends informed him it was produced by MillerCoors,” points out MillerCoors while arguing that the plaintiff did not establish his claims as well as standing. “If MillerCoors were to change the advertising, packaging or labeling of Blue Moon, it would not resolve plaintiff’s issues with Blue Moon,” the company concluded.

The Blue Moon class action lawsuit was removed from California Superior Court last month.

Parent is represented by R. Craig Clark and James M. Treglio of Clark & Treglio.

The Blue Moon Class Action Lawsuit is Evan Parent, et al. v. MillerCoors LLC, et al., Case No. 3:15-cv-01204, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.

UPDATE: On June 16, 2016, for the second and presumably last time, a federal court has dismissed a consumer class action lawsuit over whether Blue Moon beer can truly be described as “craft beer.”