KAILUA-KONA — A federal judge in California ruled at the beginning of this month that a lawsuit alleging violations of consumer protection laws and misrepresentation by the owner of Kona Brewing Co. could move forward.
KAILUA-KONA — A federal judge in California ruled at the beginning of this month that a lawsuit alleging violations of consumer protection laws and misrepresentation by the owner of Kona Brewing Co. could move forward.
The lawsuit accuses Craft Brew Alliance and others of misleading customers into believing the Kona Brewing Co. beer they are purchasing is brewed in Hawaii through the use of images and phrases associated with the Aloha State.
The company’s facility in Kailua-Kona produces more than 12,000 barrels of beer annually, according to its website, but its bottled beer and mainland draft is produced at facilities on the mainland.
Labels on Kona Brewing Co. beers list Kona and the locations of the company’s mainland facilities, such as Portland, Ore. and Memphis, Tenn.
Craft Brew Alliance had asked that the lawsuit be dismissed, but U.S. District Judge Beth Labson Freeman denied its motion, allowing the case to proceed.
Jenny McLean, spokesperson for Craft Brew Alliance, said the ruling is “normal par for course in the litigation process” and that they don’t see the ruling as negative.
In their lawsuit, plaintiffs alleged “specific, misleading Hawaii-origin representations” on Kona Brewing Co. products, according to the initial complaint. The complaint referenced examples like the phrase “Liquid Aloha” and packaging and labeling imagery, such as surf-related images on Longboard Island Lager. In her ruling, the judge agreed that some of those terms and images aren’t enough to bring a lawsuit.
“If the Consolidated Complaint solely alleged pictures of surfboards and the vague phrase ‘Liquid Aloha’ on the beer packaging, the case would end there,” she wrote.
“In addition,” she wrote, “merely referencing Hawaii and its culture on the packaging is not enough on its own to confuse a reasonable consumer regarding the origin of the beer.” But, the judge said, there were some issues that could potentially fool customers.
Specifically, she referenced the inclusion of a map of Hawaii that identified the Kona brewery, the brewery’s address and an invitation to customers “to visit our brewery and pubs whenever you are in Hawaii.”
Those representations, the judge concluded, “do more than evoke the ‘spirit’ of Hawaii or indicate that the beer is ‘Hawaiian-style.’”