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Trademark fight to use Wrexham for beer in US
Actor, entrepreneur and football club owner Ryan Reynolds is facing a battle for control of using the Wrexham name in US beer production, reports have claimed.
According to the Daily Star, the company called Master Brew Ventures, which is based in Pennsylvania, and not associated with Reynolds, is attempting to gain the legal rights to use the Wrexham name for beer in the States.
At the same time, Reynolds and Wrexham co-owner Rob McElhenney have trademarked through their holding company R.R. McReynolds for a number of product names with the UK Intellectual Property Office, such as It’s Always Sunny in Wrexham, R&R Lager and Max Effort Lager.
In addition, they have trademarked Wrexham FC 1864 and Wrexham FC in the UK and Wrexham is the Name and Wrexham FC 1864 in the US.
There is also an application for Welcome to Wrexham with the US Patent and Trademark Office, with protection in the UK granted by the Intellectual Property Office for the next ten years.
It comes as Reynold’s has partnered with his wife Blake Lively’s Betty Buzz and Betty Booze brands on sponsorship for Wrexham, and as he continues to promote Aviation Gin, which he sold to Diageo for £500m in 2020.
Lively used three Wrexham players on an online advert during their tour of the States. Posted on Instagram, the advert was called Pick Your ‘Playvor’, and described it as a “friendly competition” during Wrexham AFC’s US Tour of pre-season matches.
In 2021, Reynolds and McElhenney celebrated their takeover of non-league football club Wrexham with a limited-edition Aviation American Gin x Wrexham Association Football Club bottle.
McElhenney also produces a Four Walls whisky with his It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia co-stars Glen Howerton and Charlie Day, which was launched in 2022 and since its launch has become something of a hit, mirroring the success of the FX show, with the founders visiting Dublin earlier this year to promote the product as part of their podcast tour.
Only last week, McElhenney and his co-stars launched a new advert to promote the whisky.