As social media reacts to the Magic Hat logo lawsuit against West Sixth, the four principals behind the Lexington, Kentucky microbrewery at the corner of W. Sixth and Jefferson have posted a compromise proposal to Magic Hat on Facebook, because they say that the lawyers for the corporate parent of the Burlington, Vermont-based brewer will not respond to them promptly by e-mail or phone. The response West Sixth got from its last attorney letter proposing compromise, the Lexington brewers say, was the filing of a federal lawsuit.
The compromise proposal includes a set of revised West Sixth logos for Magic Hat’s perusal (as the maker of #9 requested in its last attorney missive).
Magic Hat’s brand manager has responded, through the company’s publicist. In a media release, he stated:
“We have seen West Sixth Brewing’s Facebook post and are glad that they are moving back toward their earlier settlement position, rather than away from it. We have always been ready to talk and will reach out to West Sixth to make sure that happens,” said Ryan Daley, brand manager of Magic Hat. “It is our position that West Sixth has not only infringed on our trademarks, but has also taken steps to damage our brand. To that point, West Sixth has made some false statements in its social media campaign this week. While we don’t know whether those statements were intentional, the fact that they were made is not entirely surprising given the frenzied and negative campaign West Sixth enlisted in order to respond to the lawsuit.
“We look forward to confirming that West Sixth intends to approach any further settlement negotiations in good faith. As for Magic Hat, in order to prevent the spread of misinformation that has occurred this week, we do not believe this matter should play out publicly any further and invite West Sixth to make the same commitment,” said Daley, in the email.
