Social media stars win court battle over Better Beer brand

Podcast duo and social media stars Matt Ford and Jack Steele, aka The Inspired Unemployed, have won a Federal Court dispute against a rival brewer in Australia over their Better Beer brand.

Brick Lane Brewing took the producers of Better Beer to the Federal Court in 2021 over the design of its cans, alleging it had engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct.

The rival brewer, based in Victoria, sought to protect its low-alcohol Sidewinder range which was launched in July 2021. Brick Lane Brewing launched proceedings claiming that the design of the Better Beer cans were capable of confusing consumers about whether the product was related to its Sidewinder range due to their similarities. Both beers feature off-white cans and curving stripes in shades of blue, orange and yellow.

But Better Beer — which boasts a zero-carbohydrate beer and lower-sugar ginger beer — will be able to keep its cans, as the case was thrown out.

Federal Court Justice Angus Stewart dismissed Brick Lane’s lawsuit, it was revealed in orders delivered on Wednesday morning.

The Inspired Unemployed comedians Steele and Ford joined forces with Victorian brewer Torquay Beverage Company in 2021 to develop the Better Beer brand, in which the duo has a combined 40% stake.

Better Beer was launched online just five days after Brick Lane Brewing announced its Sidewinder range. Justice Angus Stewart therefore ruled that there was no way for Torquay and its collaborators to have copied the design.

In a statement quoted by The Sydney Morning Herald, Justice Stewart claimed that although the first Sidewinder product “was available for sale to consumers nearly three months before the first Better Beer product”, the two products “essentially built their reputations in the market side by side”.

Brick Lane is now expected to pay the legal costs for all of the respondents in the case.