Innovative Legal Guidance For Alcohol, Cannabis And Global Consumer Brands
According to the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), it is conducting a joint investigation with agents from the Florida Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco (ABT) into “pay to play” activities in Miami. “Pay to play” is also known as a “slotting fee.” A “slotting fee” is impermissible and involves, for instance, an alcohol beverage supplier giving a thing…
The Brewers Association (“BA”), the trade group of independent American craft brewers, launched a seal that informs consumers that the beer was produced by an independent brewery. The BA release says, “to proudly display that independent spirit, the Brewers Association has created a symbol to unify craft breweries from around the country. This symbol—the independent craft brewer seal—gives beer lovers an easy…
Heineken, importers of Desperados beer, is battling Mexico’s Consejo Regulador del Tequila (“CRT”) over the beer being tequila flavored. Use of the name tequila in alcoholic beverages (like Champagne or Cognac) is a designation of origin regulated by the CRT. The CRT says the beer violates the rules because the beer is, well, a beer and not a spirit. According to Beverage…
The world of home delivery services for alcohol has been growing steadily. One South Florida based delivery service, Klink, has recently been acquired by delivery.com, a delivery service company based in New York that delivers food, groceries, laundry, other products, and now alcohol. Klink, founded in 2013, was one of the earlier providers of on-demand alcohol deliveries direct to consumers. The…
Last month the New York State Liquor Authority (“NYSLA”) took under review the issue of “Bill and Hold” invoicing and storage between wholesalers and retailers. The practice of Bill and Hold is when a licensed wholesaler sells product to a licensed retailer without the product being delivered to the retailer’s premises at the time of sale and instead can be…
On April 1, the new Oregon Bottle Bill went into effect. House Bill 2746 was signed by Governor Kate Brown during the 2017 regular session of the Oregon State Legislature. The bill increases bottle deposit refunds from 5 cents to 10 cents. In accordance with Oregon Law, the Oregon Liquor Control Commission was required to evaluate state-wide redemption data…
After almost seven years of back and forth legal battles, a jury deliberated for almost four hours before reaching a unanimous verdict in favor of Globefill Inc. (Crystal Head Vodka) suit against Elements Spirits Inc. (Kah Tequila) for infringement of Globefill’s bottle trademark of its unique crystal skull shaped vodka bottle. Actor Dank Akroyd’s vodka brand had brought a suit…
There is continued momentum for the repeal and replacement of the decades old prohibition liquor law that restricts grocery and large store retailers from selling liquor products within their stores as opposed to a separate adjacent store that must be separated by a wall from the retail store. Last week we wrote about Bryan Avila, R-Hialeah, who sponsored a bill…
This week, Florida’s Senate Regulated Industries Committee approved a bill sponsored by Sen. Frank Artiles that would change the existing state laws currently restricting beer wholesalers from giving away free glassware to on-premise retailers such as bars, restaurants and other establishments that sell beer. The bill will set limits on the amount of glassware that may be given to five cases…
Over the past several months we reported on the lawsuit between New York’s Empire Merchants and Breakthru Beverage. Empire had alleged through its complaint that from 2009 to 2016, the defendants collectively conspired and acted in a criminal scheme for a period of time over the past eight years to smuggle wine and spirits, worth millions of dollars, into New…