We will likely need to change our club name

[daryl]

The least they could do is ship us a few cases of those shitty nuts once this is settled since she is so "amicable"

Something plain and somewhat lame "Five Seasons Brew Club".....creativity is not my strong suit.

-Beer Sluts....see I got nuttin

Ahhh yes, Beer Sluts........Keep the same motto....and change the bottle cap to a condom wrapper?

There'd be no confusion there!!!

[tony b]

But then we'd likely get slammed by the Trojan company for something - LOL!

Building on Pat's idea - "Mash Tun Bitches"

[jjpeanasky]

Is ALEZ? Taken yet? Air-Lock Enthusiasts and Zealots.

To be clear, we'd become the Cedar Rapids ALEZ Homebrew Club.

- Josh Peanasky

[Schwerkraftbrauer]

Crafty Alesmen of the cedar valley

[wyzzyrdd]

Firkin Fillers United!

[Matt F]

I am doing lunch with our attorney Friday for any further recommendations and will keep you in the loop on progress with this issue.

Do you think that the AHA could offer us some advice on how best to handle this, as I'm sure similar things have come up before and they probably have legal counsel that could advise, as well?

My biggest concern is that we need to have some sort of reasonable "grace period" to make this change - develop the new name/logo, multiple filings to legally change our name, new branding, etc. And, remind them that as a "not for profit," we're going to be out considerable expense in making all these changes - filing fees, new signage, glass inventory, business cards, club patches/shirts/hats, etc. This is a major setback for a non-profit that's been in existence, with their prior knowledge, for over 10 years. I don't want to risk an Immediate Cease & Desist Order from them, but I think that we should push for some level of accommodation here.

No worries there. As long as we make progress with a change we are fine. I will not ask for a specific time line. If it is undefined there is nothing for them to hold us too. Would like to avoid a due date.

[Matt F]

We also may have an opportunity to work with a real marketing firm to develop a new logo and brand. More to hollow there.

[tony b]

We also may have an opportunity to work with a real marketing firm to develop a new logo and brand. More to follow there.

That would be great!

[TappedOut]

We also may have an opportunity to work with a real marketing firm to develop a new logo and brand. More to follow there.

That would be great!

It would certainly be better than Tony's suggestions, anyway!

[Matt F]

After lunch with our attorney today it is very obvious we need to change our name. Our current use of anything that uses the phrase "Beer Nuts" even just by name is an infringement on the trademark owned by the Beer Nuts snack company. It does not matter if they have let us use the name so far or before, they still own the rights. We don't need to worry about a timeline on the change right now. We do need to work on the change. We will file paperwork like before for our non-profit status once we have a new name. This must be done again anyway and is not that difficult.

[tony b]

It would certainly be better than Tony's suggestions, anyway!

WHAT??? You didn't like Mash Tun Bitches???

If it weren't so close to our buddies name up in Cedar Falls (CRAZE) - we could be the "Cedar Rapids Area Zymurgists Imbibing Esoteric Suds - CRAZIES"

Or "Cedar Rapids Area Brewers Society - CRABS" (but there's a club with that acronym in Maryland.)

Like Matt said, it doesn't have to be a cute acronym. It could be something plain, but descriptive, like "Cedar Rapids Homebrewers' Club" - a non-profit group promoting home brewing of beer, cider, mead, and wine making in the Cedar Rapids Metro Area (fka - Cedar Rapids Beer Nuts*.)

* had to throw that last part in there, just as a pimp on having to change our name! But, on a serious note, we do need to bridge the old to the new, so folks looking for us, especially in social media, will be able to find us once we change our name/logo. The marketing folks should have suggestions on how best to do that.

[DJANS]

Beer tunners


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[DJANS]

Beer Tun Nutz


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[andrewmaixner]

Cedar Rapids Brew Nuts, keep the same logo image (change two letters), and no possibility of infringement any more.

Our logo is very different from the trademark, aside from the two words. They hold TM on a red circle outline with the words Beer Nuts written in red on a transparent background. Ours is a red bottlecap with the club name written in white (or negative) on a red background.

We could also change the sub-text (""good times, great beer"") to something slightly different (or more inclusive of non-beer stuff) also if desired, but, a Google image search does not show that part as being used by the company on their stuff currently...

That would 100% remove any possibility of being sued for infringement, while retaining a lot of our club's "brand" recognition.

[daryl]

Cedar Rapids Brew Nuts, keep the same logo image (change two letters), and no possibility of infringement any more. ......
That would 100% remove any possibility of being sued for infringement, while retaining a lot of our club's "brand" recognition.

I like Andrew's proposal, if the Beer Nuts Company would accept it.

It could offer us a transition that most of the public would not perceive.

However, we still incur all of the costs and the tedious work of changing the name (401 filing, AHA Insurance/Registration, URL Name, etc.)....in the end it will be a re-brand.