Denver Pearl Brewing Changing Their Name After Trademark Issues With Pabst

Denver, CO: After only 3 months of operations the owners of the family run Denver Pearl

Brewing Company, located on South Pearl Street in Denver, will change their name to avoid

legal action. The re-branded brewery will open Saturday September 6th,

from Noon until

Midnight, with a large "Re-Naming Party" that features new beers, special barrel-aged releases,

and prizes to mark the occasion. They also plan to roll out new merchandise with the new name

and logo! While that name remains under wraps until September the ownership, the staff, the

location and all of the beers will remain the same.

The name change comes after receiving pressure from other operating brewers. One national

and one local brewery threatened legal action because of the name and rather than fight to

keep it, the Rankin family decided to pull back and move ahead with a new name.

Attorneys representing the Pabst Brewing Company, who own the trademark for Pearl Brewing

Company of San Antonio, had given notice of their issues with the name, one citing customer

confusion. Chief Operating Officer Randy Rankin explains, “We researched Pearl being used in

the brewing industry and found brewers using it frequently and assumed our name was different

enough. Our intentions were to have our name represent this great Denver neighborhood and

certainly not to confuse customers in or from Texas.” While Pearl Brewing Company closed in

2001 and no longer produces beer on site, Pabst still produces Pearl and Pearl Light beer for

distribution in Texas and Oklahoma at the Miller facility in Fort Worth, TX.

Additionally, one brewer from the local brewing scene threatened legal action as well, as they

felt they were entitled to the sole use of the word “Denver” in craft brewing. That alone seemed

simple to overcome legally, however with a pair of potential legal snares on the horizon the

solution became apparent: get a fresh name and keep on brewing. Rankin added, “We did not

get into the craft beer industry to spend money in court, we are here to brew and serve

outstanding craft beer in the city of Denver. That is what we are going to continue to do.”

Moving ahead and putting a positive spin on the legal issues is Colby Rankin, the Operating

Partner of the brewery, said “Well, I guess we will just have to open fresh and throw another

crazy party?” On the first grand opening in June, a line of people patiently waited for a chance to

try the brewery’s offerings. Colby added, “We plan to throw a bigger party than our original

opening day… which killed it! We love all of the support we have received from our customers

and we will continue to strive to make them happy with our liquid love.”
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