Star Wars creator George Lucas once unsuccessfully tried to sue an artist who made Stormtrooper outfits, and even took on a company for developing a headset which allowed video game users to control characters with their minds.



Now it appears that the newly Disney-owned Lucasfilm is taking just as litigious an attitude after it emerged that the company is suing a tiny New York-based brewpub for marketing a beer allegedly known as Empire’s Strikes Bock.



Empire Brewing Co, based in Syracuse, has reportedly been trying to trademark the bock lager as “Strikes Bock”, making its full moniker uncannily reminiscent of the 1980 movie widely regarded as the best in Lucas’s original Star Wars trilogy. Lucasfilm, which Disney bought for £4.05bn in October 2012, has filed an opposing motion in an effort to stop the beer being sold in other bars, restaurants and stores. It suggests customers may find themselves bamboozled when drinking the lager into believing they are imbibing some form of official Star Wars beer.





“Applicant’s EMPIRE STRIKES BOCK mark is virtually identical in sound, appearance, and connotation to Lucasfilm’s THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK mark, differing by only one letter in the respective last words ‘BOCK’ and ‘BACK,’ and the initial word ‘THE,’” the complaint reads. “Lucasfilm has a long history of using such marks for food and beverages, including wine. The fact that consumers have been exposed to and accustomed to seeing Lucasfilm’s STAR WARS Film Franchise marks in connection with food and beverages, including wine, increases the already existing likelihood of confusion.”

“It’s kind of a ‘big dog against small dog’ thing,’’ owner David Katleski told Syracuse.com. “We’ve had this beer for seven years, and we did this this because we don’t want to infringe on any other beers or anyone else’s trademarks.”

Katleski, left, enjoying some of Empire’s products Photograph: PR

Strikes Bock (6.8%) is described on Empire’s site as a “spring lager brewed with German malt & hops and then lagered for six weeks. Extremely clean and refreshing. May the hops be with you.”