Irwin Mitchell's 'Trade Mark IPA' Makes Yorkshire Debut

A craft beer developed by business lawyers in Yorkshire and Intrepid Brewing Company has been launched at an event in Leeds.

The limited edition ‘Trade Mark IPA’, which is the result of a unique collaboration between the Leeds office of Irwin Mitchell and the Hope Valley-based micro-brewery, was officially unveiled at Leeds Brewery’s Lamb and Flag on Church Row on 15 October.

Over 100 casks of Trade Mark IPA have been produced so far, equivalent to more than 9,200 pints, and will be available to all the pubs that Intrepid supplies.
 
Inspiration for the beer followed the successful resolution of a trade mark dispute involving a large national brewer, which resulted in Intrepid successfully defending its right to use its name, and subsequently becoming the owner of a registered trademark for ‘Intrepid’.

Alex Newman, Leeds-based Partner at Irwin Mitchell, advised Intrepid on the trademark issue and together they decided to develop the beer to help bring the value of strong IPR to the attention of the growing micro-brewery industry.

Expert Opinion

“Creating this beer has been a brilliant and really interesting journey - from deciding on which type of beer to make, which ingredients to use, how to brand it, and then of course helping with the brewing process. It was great to launch the beer in Leeds and we are delighted with the end result. It was also good to be able to share the new beer with clients and host the event in a pub belonging to Leeds brewery – another Irwin Mitchell client.

“This is more than just a beer. It is the result of a client partnership with Intrepid which not only celebrates the anniversary of their beers appearing in pubs, but highlights the issues relating to trademark in the brewing industry. We want people to enjoy the beer, but we also want to raise awareness of how important it is for small companies in the sector to ensure they have considered all issue in relation to intellectual property.”
Alex Newman - Partner

For further information about ‘Trade Mark IPA’ Irwin Mitchell has produced a short video together with Intrepid. The video can be viewed here

Earlier this month, Intrepid announced that it had sent over 430 pints of its Intrepid Explorer beer to the UK Houses of Parliament. The beer will be available for sampling by MPs and their guests during the month of October after it was nominated by local MP Andrew Bingham.