Dogfish Head Seeking Friendly Solution To Namaste Trademark Issues

For more than five years, we’ve sold Namaste throughout the U.S. We originally brewed it to raise funds for Drie Fonteinen brewery after a disaster hit and ruined 100,000 bottles of their beer. To reflect this spirit of collaboration and respect for the brewing industry, we named the beer Namaste. What started as a fundraiser quickly became a fan favorite, and we’ve been brewing and bottling it ever since.  

A few months ago, a retail account and restaurant in Austin, Texas, began brewing under the name Namaste Brewing Company. The brewery owners also run a retail store that has sold Dogfish Head, including our Namaste beer. As many of you are probably aware, there is no point in having a trademark unless we actively defend it (and if we don’t defend it this time, anyone can name a beer Namaste), and Dogfish does have a federal trademark for Namaste in the beer world, which covers both breweries and beer.  

Because we believe in working collaboratively with other brewers in handling these disputes, we have called and emailed Namaste Brewing in hopes of resolving the matter brewer-to-brewer. (We have not sent a cease-and-desist and have not taken any legal action, as has been reported.) We have given them several creative solutions in an effort to alleviate any hardship they might face in making the changes, including the option to continue to sell the beer at their existing location and at festivals. Another option was to allow them ample time to phase out the name.  

We want to point out a quick distinction, as we’ve seen some of our fans point to Sam’s trademark troubles in the past, as seen on "Beer Wars." Our issue in "Beer Wars" with Punkin Ale was actually quite different from the one here. Back then, the company that tried to block our trademark application for Punkin Ale was arguing that Punkin Ale was not a distinct enough name for a beer. They did not have a trademark they were trying to protect, and we did not brew a beer or open a company with a name similar to theirs. With Namaste, we have to protect the name of our beer or we lose it.