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.