9A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2015
Distillery: ‘It just
feels like a bigger
guy coming after
a smaller startup’
Continued from Page 1A
vodka and gin. But the trade-
mark challenge shows how
zealously entrepreneurs in
the emerging craft beer and
distillery markets guard their
brands.
“It just feels like a bigger
guy coming after a small-
er startup,” said Cary, who
opened on Duane Street in
February 2014 and expand-
ed into Seaside this fall.
“Other than that, why would
you take someone to federal
court?”
North Coast Brewing Co.
from North Coast Brewing
again and, about a month later,
WKHEUHZHU\¿OHGVXLWLQIHGHUDO
district court in San Francisco.
Explosion of breweries The lawsuit alleged trademark
The Brewers Association, infringement and unfair com-
a trade group, reported in petition. North Coast Brew-
September that the number of ing owns multiple trademarks
breweries in the United States relating to the phrases “North
topped 4,000, rivaling the beer Coast” and “North Coast
boom of the 1870s. The ex- Brewing.”
plosion of breweries has led to
Representatives of North
competition over territory and Coast Brewing could not be
names.
reached for comment.
Locking down place
&DU\RI¿FLDOO\FKDQJHGWKH
names, even generic ones like name of his business to Pilot
“North Coast,” can be import- House Spirits in October, end-
ant to carve out market iden- ing the threat of a trademark
tity, but trademark spats have suit from the brewery.
also occurred over words,
This time around, Cary
phrases and logos.
said, he researched each name
Earlier this year, Drop An- RSWLRQWR¿QGRQHWKDWZRXOG
chor Brewery in Cathlamet, not leave him at risk of anoth-
Washington, switched to Riv- er lawsuit. That meant vetoing
er Mile 38 Brewing Co. after multiple options before decid-
a legal threat from Anchor ing on Pilot House Spirits.
Brewing Co., which owns
“We had other names in
the venerable Anchor Steam mind, but we were advised
brand in San Francisco.
IURP D GLIIHUHQW ODZ ¿UP QRW
Cary was aware of North to use any of the names we
&RDVW %UHZLQJ ZKHQ KH ¿UVW picked because they would
opened North Coast Distilling, lead to the same complica-
he said, but was told by his tions, possibly,” he said.
lawyers that the similar names
Cary added the extra pre-
would not cause a problem.
caution of trademarking Pilot
&DU\ ¿UVW KHDUG IURP WKH House Spirits.
brewery in February, accord-
Reaching out to
ing to case documents, but at
customers
the time his lawyers told him
The transition has forced
the challenge would not be
an issue because his distillery Cary to reach out to customers
IDOOVXQGHUDGLIIHUHQWFODVVL¿- to let them know that North
cation than North Coast Brew- Coast Distilling and Pilot
House Spirits are one and the
ing, he said.
Under that advice, Cary same. That effort has largely
opted not to act on the brew- consisted of word of mouth
ery’s request to change the and using the Pilot House so-
cial media platforms to keep
name of his distillery.
customers informed and direct
Unfair competition
them to the distillery’s new
At the time, representatives website.
of North Coast Brewing had
The words “North Coast”
asked Cary to stop using North can still be found in small print
Coast Distilling, claiming that on all the distillery’s bottles,
Cary’s continued use of the despite the name and logo
“North Coast” portion of the change.
distillery’s name would cause
“We have such a nice fol-
damage to the brewery’s busi- lowing that it’s not an issue,”
ness and reputation, according Cary said. “We are a house-
to case documents.
hold brand, not just a branded
Then, in July, Cary heard house.”
www.pilothousespirits.com
Bar Pilot Jalapeño Lime Flavored Vodka is pictured.
Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian
Volunteer Di Stuppy of Seaside looks for toys for a young child.
Wishing Tree:3URJUDP¿QGVD
way to give a gift to each child
Continued from Page 1A
community service, write a
report and give a presentation
to complete their senior proj-
ects.
Ethan McCarley, an AHS
senior, said the community
service, report and presen-
tation all have to connect in
some way.
For his project, McCarley
is planning to find a con-
nection between the Wish-
ing Tree program and foster
children in the community.
“Some of them are not as
privileged as other kids, so
doing this makes them feel
better and feel like they are
wanted,” McCarley said.
Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian
Where the presents go
Toys for children line tables at the Clatsop County Fairgrounds as part of the Wishing
Tree program.
The Wishing Tree pro-
gram started more than 30
years ago as a countywide
effort. Roberts remembers
supplying toys to children in
the South County and in War-
renton.
Over the years, the focus
of the program shifted to
just the Astoria and Knappa
area.
The change has caused
some confusion for Warren-
ton, especially since some
of the Wishing Trees are in
Warrenton banks and in Fred
Meyer.
Warrenton Mayor Mark
Kujala said he plans to talk
with Roberts about keeping
Warrenton children a part of
the program.
“If Warrenton business-
es are participating, they do
so with the notion that some
Warrenton kids benefit from
it,” he said.
As of now, the only sim-
ilar program in Warren-
ton is the Fire Department
handing out donated food.
Occasionally, Kujala said,
anonymous toy donations
will be made, but that is not
a guarantee.
In the meantime, War-
renton resident Shelly Cole-
man launched a fundraising
campaign for a toy drive
for Warrenton families. The
campaign is online at www.
gofundme.com/christmasfor-
warren.
Focusing on the Astoria area
has been plenty of work for the
volunteers, Roberts said.
The fatal crash occurred
just before 7 a.m. on July 25,
2014, about three miles east
of Astoria on U.S. Highway
30 near Liberty Lane.
Fletcher, driving a 1999
Toyota Tacoma pickup, was
traveling westbound when
she crossed the double solid
centerline and sideswiped an
eastbound 1993 Ford pick-
up, according to the Oregon
State Police.
Fletcher was traveling
with two passengers — War-
renton residents Arthur Ro-
mine Jr. and Bryce William
Saranpaa.
Saranpaa, 43, died at the
scene. He was riding in the
‘I hope you find it in your
hearts to forgive me.’
Michelle Lynn Fletcher
Longview woman responsible for fatal crash
back seat. Romine Jr. was not
injured.
Fletcher was seriously in-
MXUHG DQG H[WULFDWHG E\ ¿UH-
¿JKWHUV
The driver of the Ford
pickup had non-life-threaten-
ing injuries
6DUDQSDD¶V
VLJQL¿FDQW
other spoke at the sentenc-
ing hearing Thursday. She
described how Saranpaa was
just two days shy of his 44th
birthday when he died.
“In the blink of an eye, I
went from planning a surprise
birthday party to grasping the
reality of putting together a
funeral,” she said.
Before receiving her
75-month prison sentence,
)OHWFKHU EULHÀ\ VSRNH WR WKH
family and friends in the
courtroom. She told them how
much she regretted her ac-
tions, and she vowed to main-
tain a clean and sober life.
³,KRSH\RX¿QGLWLQ\RXU
hearts to forgive me,” she
said.
a gift to each child.
“She works until after
Christmas sometimes,” her
husband said. “She can’t say
no.”
Elisa Long, Medical Assistant
CMH Women’s Center
8 years at CMH
Our people make
Crash: Fletcher vowed to
maintain a clean, sober life
Continued from Page 1A
The number of children in
need has increased with nearly
800 last year. No matter how
many children are in need, Rob-
HUWVVDLGVKH¿QGVDZD\WRJLYH
The Planetree Difference
7LVWSL*LU[LYLK8\HSP[`+YP]LU:LY]PJL-VJ\ZLK
Elisa is one of the caregivers at CMH
who exemplifies our Promise of
Excellence:
t
t
t
t
t
t
Respect
Integrity
Compassion
Leadership
Safety
Teamwork
Caregivers like Elisa make your
community hospital one to be proud of.
“I really try to put
myself into my patients’
shoes and see from their
perspective... I try to
leave everyday knowing
that I did my best to
make a difference in at
least one patient’s life.”
– Elisa Long, Medical Assistant
&YDIBOHF4U"TUPSJB0SFHPOt
XXXDPMVNCJBNFNPSJBMPSHt"1MBOFUSFF%FTJHOBUFE)PTQJUBM