Monster Energy Bullies Trademark Application For Gin Company

Here we go again. Monster Energy is one of the most prolific trademark bullies in the history of trademark bullying. And the really frustrating part of all this is that at times it can feel like Monster makes trademark bullying a chief international export every bit as much as energy drinks. No trademark concern is too small and no industry too disparate to warrant intervention by whatever crack legal team Monster Energy is employing at the time.

Which brings us to New Zealand. That’s where one of Monster’s brands, an energy drink labled simply “Mother Energy Drink”, is sold. Also in New Zealand is a gin company called “Mothers Ruined”, which applied for a trademark on the business name in 2022 but found themselves facing an objection to the mark by Monster. Fortunately, the folks behind Mothers Ruined appear to have the appetite to fight the bully.

Mothers Ruined co-owners Jo Davy and Helen Gower lodged the application for the name in January 2022, but were shocked when months later the Intellectual Property Office notified them of the objection.

But, with the help of a lawyer taking the case pro bono, the pair decided to fight it.

“It feels fundamental to us that the word mother should not be contestable in a legal sense,” Davy said.

“We know the company has contested other companies as well with a similar name, so we want to stand up and say ‘no, it’s not fair’,” Gower said.

With the help of an attorney, the pair are taking this up at a hearing with the Intellectual Property Office. The pair’s attorney sounds confident and is saying all the right things.

Intellectual property lawyer Kate Duckworth, who is representing Davy and Gower, said she was confident the case would go their way.

“One of the elements for a trademark case to be successful is there has to be deception and confusion,” Duckworth said. “I don’t believe Mothers Ruined is a threat to the energy drink business, as they are not competing products.”

Damned right, they aren’t. We’re talking about energy drinks and freaking gin, and those aren’t remotely in the same categories. I’ve also reviewed the branding for both products and there is zero chance of confusion, even for a hurried idiot already full of gin.

No, this is Monster doing it’s routine, bullying every chance it gets with reckless abandon. Hopefully the IPO recognizes that.