“We tell people our wine is ‘culture in a bottle,’” Modest says. “I don’t see that in a store. I don’t see anything I can directly relate to or feel a connection with.”
The USPTO refused to register the mark BEDLAM VODKA in the word-plus-design form shown below left, for vodka [VODKA disclaimed], finding confusion likely with the registered mark BEDLAM! in the word-plus-design form shown below right, for beer.
A bill up for discussion in a House committee this week went surprisingly far to reveal the convoluted mess the state-run alcohol monopoly has become.
Lawmakers call House Bill 669 Distribute Alcohol Without Discrimination, although that title is vague and misleading. The bill offers a taste of the spoiling mash. Made from a set of draconian ideas dumped in a barrel more than 80 years ago.
Reps. Tim Moffitt, R-Henderson; John Szoka, R-Cumberland; Jake Johnson, R-Henderson; and Ben Moss., R-Richmond, are primary sponsors.
The bill, officially, is an act to prohibit discrimination and advantage in the distribution of spiritous liquor to local Alcoholic Beverage Control boards, of which there are 171. Some places, such as Wake and Mecklenburg counties, have one board apiece. Brunswick County has nine. Rockingham County, with just more than 90,000 people, has three.