Intellectual Property Law

Gosling's Protects Its Rights in the "Dark 'n Stormy" Cocktail Name, NYT Reports

By Michael Atkins

The creator of the Dark ‘n’ Stormy cocktail is taking care to ensure that every drink bearing its name is made with Gosling’s Black Seal rum and a splash of ginger beer, the NYT reports today. This is a rarity in the world of cocktails, where bartenders usually have free rein to imprint their own personality on a classic drink.

Sure enough, Gosling’s Export (Bermuda) Limited owns two U.S. trademark registrations on the mark in connection with booze: DARK ‘N STORMY for “Pre-mixed alcoholic cocktail, namely rum and ginger beer” and DARK ‘N STORMY for “A kit containing Gosling’s BLACK SEAL rum and ginger beer for preparing an alcoholic cocktail.”

“We defend that trademark vigorously, which is a very time-consuming and expensive thing,” E. Malcolm Gosling Jr. says in the article. “That’s a valuable asset we need to protect.”

Gosling’s says it draws the line at the presence of other rums in its drink. When competing rum makers use its mark to promote their product, “They’re really just trying to cheat and to capitalize on our investment.”

Wikipedia (for what it’s worth) appears to take a less proprietary approach to describing the drink. It says a Dark ‘n’ Stormy cocktail is made with “dark rum and ginger beer over ice.” It adds that “local rum is usually used, for example, Bundaberg in Australia or Goslings in Bermuda.”

Photo credit: Michael Appleton/NYT.

Full post as published by Seattle Trademark Lawyer on July 05, 2009 (boomark / email).