French group to Mad River Distillers: Change the name of your brandy, or else

When it comes to apple brandy, don't mess with the French.

Mad River Distillers in Warren found that out the hard way. The distillery said it received a registered letter from a trade organization, the Institute national de l'origine et de la qualite, demanding that Mad River change the name of its Malvados Apple Brandy.

Mimi Buttenheim, president of Mad River Distrillery, said Monday the INAQ, as the trade organization is known, took the position that the name Malvados was too close for comfort to Calvados, an apple brandy made in the Normandy region of France since the 16th century.

Buttenheim tried to reason with the French at first, to no avail.

"We tried to show them we're not a threat," she said. "We're in New England, we're not exporting to Europe, but they didn't care. When you get to the core of the issue, it doesn't matter how small we are, They just wanted us to move away from that name."

Mad River Distillers was founded in 2011, specifically to make apple brandy, so Malvados was close to Buttenheim's heart. Nevertheless, the Vermont distiller decided not to fight the French over the name.

More: Vermont's distilleries are growing by leaps and bounds

"It's a distraction honestly, it's expensive and a distraction from what we do best, which is distilling," Buttenheim said.

Peter Kunin, an attorney at Downs Rachlin Martin who specializes in trademark and intellectual property law, said Mad River was wise to not try to fight the French trade association over the Malvados name.

Kunin said the French are "particularly aggressive" in protecting the names of their wine and brandy, such as Bordeaux, Champagne, Beaujolais and Cognac.

"The French feel about Calvados the way we would feel about somebody saying, 'Vermont cheddar,'" Kunin said.

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Kunin characterized the dispute as Mad River "trying to be funny" by riffing on the Calvados name with a word that means "wicked" in both Spanish and Portuguese, as Mad River founder John Egan noted in a news release issued by the distillery.

"Yankee humor ran into French pride, or French arrogance," Kunin said.

Buttenheim confirmed that the Malvados name was intended to be funny — a wicked Vermont apple brandy playing off the French brandy — but that the humor was lost on INAQ.

"That was the crux of our argument," Buttenheim said. "It's a real word, it wasn't a made-up word."

Kunin said the best thing to do is to avoid protected names entirely, which in France are organized by geographic region.

"I tell my clients, maybe you can sneak under the radar for a little while, but if you are successful, you'll attract the attention of the owner," Kunin said. "If you don't want to be successful, it may not be a problem."

Name wars

This isn't the first time a Vermont distiller or brewer has gotten into hot water over a disputed name or slogan. Last year, a New York vodka maker demanded that Whistlepig, in Shoreham, stop using the word "crop" on the label for its FarmStock farm-to-bottle whiskey.

Chatham Imports Inc. claimed WhistlePig's use of the term "crop" infringed on the vodka maker's trademark and issued a cease-and-desist letter.

Also last year, Long Trail Brewing Co. sued Burton Corporation, claiming the snowboard maker was using the beer company's slogan — "Take a Hike" — on its apparel.

In 2016, Otter Creek Brewing in Middlebury sued an Oregon brewery over its "GoodLife Brew Shed" beer, claiming the name infringed on a trademarked name. In 2011, Otter Creek purchased The Shed Brewery in Stowe, registering the name with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in August 2012.

Jed Nelson, Otter Creek's marketing director, told the Burlington Free Press that name disputes "happen all the time" in the brewery business.

"There are over 4,000 breweries in this country," Nelson said. "We're all competing for names. We kind of stumble all over each other, that's what it's gotten to."

How exactly did the French become aware of Malvados? Buttenheim thinks it goes back to the Good Food Award for Best Distilled Spirit the company won for its 100 proof brandy in 2016. The award brought Mad River "international acclaim," according to Buttenheim.

Kunin points out, however, that the letter from the French trade association came soon after Mad River registered the Malvados name with the U.S. Patent and Trade Office.

"All large companies monitor what's filed in the trademark offices of major markets like the United States," Kunin said.

Naming contest

It took a while to iron out an agreement with INAQ, but Mad River has until the end of May to keep selling Malvados Apple Brandy, and then must change the name. Buttenheim said there will be expenses for new labels, and new label approvals to get, but that she is trying to have fun with what would otherwise be a negative experience for the company.

More: Vodka maker demands WhistlePig stop using word 'crop'

"We thought it would be fun to enlist the public's help with a new name," she said. "So we came up with a nice prize package."

The winning name entry, which will be picked by the Mad River Distillers team, will get an overnight stay at Hotel Vermont, a $200 gift certificate redeemable at the restaurant of the winner's choice, and cocktails at the Mad River Distillers tasting room in Burlington.

Entries can be submitted on Facebook, Instagram (@MadRiverDistillers) or via Twitter (@DrinkMRD) and should include a proposed name, plus the hashtags #true802 and #NameOurBrandy. The contest began on April 6 and continues through April 27.

Contact Dan D’Ambrosio at 660-1841 or ddambrosio@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @DanDambrosioVT.



