U.S. District Judge Lee Rosenthal has denied the maker of ultra-premium tequila Clase Azul, Casa Tradición’s accusation against Casa Azul over its trademark infringement.
The court for the Southern District of Texas ruled the two companies can continue to market their tequila products, citing a clear distinction between their trade dresses, names, and branding.
Casa Azul, created by multi-exit beverage entrepreneur Lance Collins, includes a line of certified organic tequila and tequila soda products in its portfolio. Collins previously sold sports drink BodyArmor to Coca-Cola
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The brand, meaning “blue house” in Spanish, is a reference to the source of all of its tequila, blue weber agave. During an exclusive interview, Collins told me the Casa Azul brand has been in his family for decades: Collin’s father Herb Collins, a renowned executive in the liquor industry, previously manufactured a red wine under the name, and he later extended the trademark to all spirits.
“We grow our agave Azul on a single estate, handcrafting our tequila in small batches to create rich flavors and the true vibrant characters [of the plant],” Collins said.
Commenting on the court’s judgement, Collins said in a statement: “We are grateful that the judge so clearly decided in Casa Azul’s favor, this outcome reaffirms our confidence in the distinctiveness of Casa Azul’s brand name, world class products and our commitment to upholding its integrity with USDA Certified Organic tequila. We will continue to focus on delivering high-quality tequila products and serving our customers with excellence.”
Since its launch, Casa Azul tequila has onboarded a slew of celebrities and athletes to be its investing and marketing partners, including Mexican-born actress Eiza González, three-time national football champion Travis Kelce, and U.S. golf champion Michelle Wie.
Plaintiff Clase Azul, highly recognizable for its chess-shaped collectible bottles, initially filed a trademark infringement action against Casa Azul in September 2022. Judge Rosenthal later denied all of its claims for monetary relief and struck its jury demand in November last year.
David Bernstein of Debevoise & Plimpton, counsel to Casa Azul, said: “This is a decisive legal victory after a hard-fought trial. Although there are some superficial similarities in the sound of the Casa Azul and Clase Azul names, the Court quite properly found after a review of the voluminous evidence that confusion is not likely.”
He continued: “The names have different meanings, the trade dress is radically different, the products are different in that Casa Azul is an organic, additive-free tequila and Clase Azul is not organic and is made with additives like glycerin and artificial sweeteners, they are marketed differently and at different price points, and the Casa Azul name was adopted in good faith,”
“Although Clase Azul submitted evidence of fleeting errors and mix-ups, that was largely a problem of Clase Azul’s own making since its product is more well known by its distinctive bottles and not by its name, which, the Court found, is not strong or well known,” Bernstein added.