Headwaters Brewing Becomes Bearwaters Brewing Because Victory Brewing Trademarked “Headwaters”

Beer had been flowing from the taps of Headwaters Brewing Company in Waynesville for just a few months when the bad news arrived — a cease-and-desist letter from another brewery claiming rights to Headwaters’ name.

Victory Brewing Company out of Pennsylvania makes a beer called Headwaters Pale Ale, and while Headwaters Brewery had its name first, Victory Brewing beat them to the trademark punch.

Headwaters was faced with two options: limit their own distribution to North Carolina or change their name within six months to avoid a legal conflict.

Kevin Sandefur, one of Headwater’s three owners, didn’t relish the painstaking process of changing their name. There were billboards, T-shirts, pint glasses, hats — not to mention cardboard bar coasters — that will have to be redone, along with a new logo and new web address. But worse, the microbrewery had made a name for itself and its beer, and Sandefur would now have to redouble his marketing to introduce a new name into craft beer circles.

But, with plans for a brewery expansion this spring and hopes that the company will be distributing beyond state lines by year’s end, he bit the bullet.

“  We decided to clean the slate and get a new name,” Sandefur said.

They hired a marketing consultant out of Knoxville, who came up with the idea of switching out just two letters in the name to keep it similar.

Starting this week, Headwaters becomes Bearwaters Brewing Company.

This comment from our pal Bill Covaleski was posted and removed from the Smokey Mountain news:

Kevin and I had some good conversations but the results are indeed unfortunate. This author did not do thorough research for his article, though. Kevin was presented options for continued use. Trademark law is bigger than either company here and certain rules of the road cannot be overlooked. Our federally approved Certificate of Label Approval for Headwaters Pale Ale, registered with the Tax and Trade Bureau, dates back to Dec. 21, 2010. The Waynesville company opened in May of 2012. Both brewer and writer did not do their due diligence, sadly.

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Bill Covaleski , Brewmaster of Victory Brewing Company

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