What's A-B Up To?
This is a fascinating development:
It also seems pretty absurd that A-B could hold the trademark, even in a very constrained context, to a number. But trademark law and I don't see eye to eye, so what I think is absurd and five dollars will buy you a nice pint of ale.
Anheuser-Busch InBev has applied for a federal trademark for "314" -- the area code for much of metropolitan St. Louis -- as well as for the telephone prefixes of 13 other U.S. cities.... Besides St. Louis' 314, other area codes that A-B is seeking trademarks for: 412 (Pittsburgh), 305 (Miami), 619 (San Diego), 202 (Washington, D.C.), 602 (Phoenix), 7The obvious question: why? Well, there's this:04 (Charlotte), 702 (Las Vegas), 214 (Dallas), 415 (San Francisco), 216 (Cleveland), 303 (Denver), 615 (Nashville) and 713 (Houston).
Chicago-based brewery Goose Island, which A-B bought this year for $38.8 million, produces a wheat ale called 312, a nod to that city's area code.Here's the moment where a good blogger would offer some insight into A-B's motives, but I have none. Goose Island's 312 is cool because it's a Chicago brewery, Chicagoans know that, and they appreciate the local nod. But a San Diego-specific Goose Island 619 wouldn't necessarily draw the delight of Arrogant Bastard fans. (To this point, I am not surprised A-B skipped "503.")
It also seems pretty absurd that A-B could hold the trademark, even in a very constrained context, to a number. But trademark law and I don't see eye to eye, so what I think is absurd and five dollars will buy you a nice pint of ale.