18th August, 2015 by Amy Hopkins

Sazerac has launched legal action against a North Carolina brewery, accusing the firm of “exploiting” the trademark of its Fireball Cinnamon Whisky brand.

As reported by Law360, Sazerac filed a complaint last week against Stout Brewing Company and its Fire Flask malt liquor.

The US spirits producer, owner of the Buffalo Trace Distillery, said the packaging and name of Fire Flask was “confusing similar” to Fireball, and was designed to “trade on the longstanding goodwill” of the popular whisky liqueur brand.

Fire Flask, which launched this summer, features a “similar” horned demon figure on its label, the lawsuit claims, and also uses the same colour scheme and red bottle caps.

Neither Sazerac nor Stout Brewing Company have yet responded to The Spirits Business’ requests for comment with regards to the recent case.

In 2012, Sazerac sued Hood River River Distillers over the name and labelling of its cinnamon-flavoured SinFire Cinnamon Whiskey, which it claimed infringed on the trademark of Fireball.

The company later filed as lawsuit against Crosby Lake Spirits Company for its Bison Ridge Canadian whisky, which it claimed was “confusingly similar” to Buffalo Trace.