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News
War of the White Rose
A bitter war of the roses is being waged between two Yorkshire breweries.
The Cropton Brewery in Cropton, North Yorkshire, was threatened with legal action by Samuel Smith’s brewery after it adorned its bottles of Yorkshire Warrior Ale with a white rose.
Samuel Smith’s issued a writ claiming that the label on the beer, which had been brewed to raise money for the Yorkshire Regiment Benevolent Fund, was “confusingly similar” to the white rose used by Samuel Smith since the 1960s.
Cropton denied Smith’s claim of trademark infringement, saying the rose is a common symbol of the region and that no one business can claim monopoly of its use.
However, despite a Facebook campaign calling beer drinkers to boycott both Sam Smith’s pubs and beer, Cropton has been forced to back down and change the logo – replacing the rose with a shield on pump clips.
The potential costs of a legal dispute threatened plans to expand the brewery. Throughout the dispute, the notoriously private Samuel Smith’s refused to comment.
Ben McFarland, 29.10.2010