Diageo has obtained an injunction to prohibit a competitor from using a whiskey bottle that’s too similar to one used by a Diageo brand.
The injunction caps a lawsuit that Diageo filed in 2017 against Deutsch Family Wine & Spirits. The suit claimed that the round-shouldered, “canteen-style” bottle for Deutsch’s Redemption whiskey was so similar to the one used for Bulleit, Diageo’s line of Bourbon and rye whiskeys, that it would confuse consumers.
A federal jury agreed in June, but it declined to award Diageo any monetary damages. The injunction by a New York federal judge prohibits Deutsch from selling any more whiskey in the disputed bottles or from using advertisements that feature them.
Diageo says that Bulleit, which it acquired in 2001, has been using the round-shouldered bottle since its inception in 1999. Deutsch, on the other hand, sold Redemption in a conventional bottle up to 2016, when it switched to the disputed one, the company says.
The CEO of Deutsch says his company plans to appeal.
