After almost 20 years of coexistence, it's Columbus Brewing Co. versus Columbus Brewing Co. The craft brewery, whose legal name is District Brewing Co., is suing the Columbus Brewing Co. Restaurant in federal court over the use of trademarks, logos and other copyrighted property. The brewery owns the name Columbus Brewing Co., and the brewery wants the restaurant to call itself something else.

After almost 20 years of coexistence, it's Columbus Brewing Co. versus Columbus Brewing Co.

The craft brewery, whose legal name is District Brewing Co., is suing the Columbus Brewing Co. Restaurant in federal court over the use of trademarks, logos and other copyrighted property. The brewery owns the name Columbus Brewing Co., and the brewery wants the restaurant to call itself something else.

"These cases are common," said Brendan Palfreyman, a lawyer based in Syracuse, New York, who specializes in trademark law and the craft-beer business. "But typically, they don�t get to this stage. It is a very small percentage that get to an actual lawsuit."

The two businesses are separate entities. District Brewing formed in 1988 and has held the trademark for the Columbus Brewing Co. brand since 1989. In 1997, then-owner Jeff Edwards invited Cameron Mitchell to tack a restaurant onto the front of the brewery on Short Street. Edwards stipulated that the restaurant would be called Columbus Brewing Co. Restaurant, according to court papers.

"Most beer lovers who savored the brewery�s CBC beers ... assumed the brewery and the restaurant were owned by the same owner," the brewery's attorney, Michael Byers, said in a statement.

Both businesses have changed hands since 1997.

Eric Bean became a partner in the brewery in 2006 and bought it outright in 2011. Mitchell sold the restaurant in 2007 to Mike Campbell and Doug Griggs, the current owners.

Bean discussed the use of the name and logo with Griggs and Campbell but didn't demand that they stop using it until last year, according to court papers. He also asked the restaurant to give up its Internet domain, www.columbusbrewingco.com.

"My client has a long history of operating a successful restaurant in the city with a lot of name recognition," said the restaurant's attorney, Steven Miller. "The restaurant wasn�t going to allow its rights to be stripped."

Bean filed suit in December and asked for an injunction to stop the restaurant from using the name. In a ruling this month, U.S. District Judge Algenon Marbley tossed the injunction request and told the parties to seek a settlement. Negotiations are ongoing, Miller said.

The outcome of the injunction hearing often foretells the outcome of the case, Palfreyman and Miller said. But "this isn't a normal case," Miller added.

Marbley did not grant the injunction because the brewery failed for years to protect its trademarks. He also wrote that due to confusion about the relationship between the brewery and the restaurant, the brewery "will probably eventually prevail on the merits even over (the restaurant's) acquiescence defense."

Palfreyman cautioned that as the craft-beer industry has evolved, moving from a gritty fringe of little breweries often fronted by first-time business owners to much larger enterprises, intellectual property often gets overlooked.

"While brewers spend a lot of money on mash tuns and stainless steel," he said, "I tell them that the most important thing they own is the name of their brewery."

Reporter Earl Rinehart contributed to this story

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