Billy Slater and Dan Carter’s Beer is Suing the Inspired Unemployed for Copying Their Design
DYOR Dave
There’s a legal battle heating up in the Federal Court at the moment, as the Inspired Unemployed’s Better Beer has been accused of copying the design of Brick Lane’s Sidewinder XPA.
Brick Lane Brewing, whose stakeholders include Billy Slater, Dan Carter, Eddie McGuire, and Mick Molloy, launched legal action in January claiming that the similar off-white can and curved red, orange, and yellow stripes would confuse and potentially harm consumers due to the 3.1% ABV difference of the beers.
As neither company has received approval for their registered trademarks, the case will be fought on the basis of whether Better Beer has “made false, misleading or deceptive representations” involving the branding of their beer.
A response has now been issued from Mighty Craft, owners of Torquay Beverage Company who in turn own part of Better Beer alongside the Inspired Unemployed.
They claim that promotion began for Better Beer in July 2021, before Sidewinders had hit the shelves, and that even as Better Beer went on sale, the sidewinders were sold in “minor” quantities and were not noticeably promoted or advertised.
Additionally, they state that the distinctive brand names, fonts, and layout adequately separate the beers, as does their difference in the market, with Sidewinder promoted as a low alcohol beverage (1.1%), and Better Beer sold as full strength (4.2%).
However, there could be an interesting twist, as Torquay Beverage Company actually approached Brick Lane in June 2021 to inquire about brewing a new brand, however Brick Lane declined due to their expansion of range and minimal capacity to take on new brews.
With the immense success of Better Beer and a projected 4 million litres to be brewed in the coming year, the case could be damaging to the new brand, which owes its success to the popularity of their instafamous stakeholders.
The conflict has caused an internal struggle in many young Australian men, who for years have idolised the aforementioned athletes, although more recently emulated the personalities of the Instagram sensations.
Rising to fame on the back of skits, dances, and tik toks, the South Coast duo have entrenched themselves in the cultural imagination of Australian youths, and have subsequently enjoyed the fistings of the corporate dollar through partnerships with David Jones, The Iconic, Tradie, Grill’d, and OnlyFans.
It’s not the first time the inspiring and now very much employed duo has faced heat from regulators, after one of their Tradie ads was forced off screens due to its innocent but nonetheless dangerous depiction of having a bath with a boombox.
Better Beer has been popping up at house parties and kickons since its launch in November, and although I’m yet to see a sneaky Sidewinder among them, it’s not hard to see the similarities.
With craft beer now a rapidly growing industry with a relatively small market to target, cases like this are not uncommon in Australian courts.
In 2018 Stone & Wood settled a dispute with Thunder Road brewing over their use of the title “Pacific Ale” following three years of proceedings.
It’s unlikely that these matters will be taken to a courtroom, however, the verdict is still anyone’s guess Senior Associate at law firm Lavan, Andrew Sutton, “It’s one of those claims where you’re not sure which way it will go because there’s no science to this.”
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