Kona beer owner seeks suit dismissal

KAILUA-KONA — Calling the case “another lawyer-driven, no-injury, copycat lawsuit,” the owner of Kona Brewing Co. has asked a judge to dismiss a suit accusing the company of misleading customers.

The filing was in response to a lawsuit filed in March, which has since been combined with a separately filed but similar case, in which a San Francisco resident alleged Kona Brewing and its owner, Craft Brew Alliance, used “deceptive marketing” to mislead customers into believing the beer is brewed in Hawaii.

That lawsuit says the plaintiff wouldn’t have bought the beer or would have paid less if he knew the beer was brewed on the mainland.

“But Kona has never marketed or labeled its beers as ‘Made in Hawaii,’” Craft Brew Alliance responded in its motion to dismiss.

Kona Brewing Co.’s beer is brewed both in Kona and locations on the mainland, which it acknowledges on its website.

The Kailua-Kona facility produces more than 12,000 barrels annually, but its bottled beer and mainland draft is produced in facilities in Oregon, Washington state, Tennessee and New Hampshire.

In its motion to dismiss, the company states that those locations “are accurately identified on all product labels and on the company’s website,” and included images on packaging and from its website to demonstrate that.

The disclosure, Craft Brew argues, “exceeds its obligations under federal law.”

Another point raised in the lawsuit was images and representations on Kona Brewing Co brands that evoke Hawaii, such as surfboard imagery.

But Craft Brew said none of the imagery references “can plausibly be interpreted as statements of objective fact that Kona beers are brewed exclusively in Hawaii,” the motion states.

The filing cites a similar case involving Red Stripe Beer alleging that brand’s packaging and labeling deceived consumers into thinking they purchased a beer imported from Jamaica.

One representation included a description of the product as “the taste of Jamaica.” In response, the judge hearing that case called the wording “a vague and meaningless phrase.”

The filing also cited similar cases involving Sapporo and Foster’s beers that alleged misrepresentation that those products were imported.

Products from both of those companies, the motion states, identified domestic brewers and packagers on their respective labeling.

Both courts hearing those cases found that the statements were “eclipsed by the accurate disclosure statement,” states the document.

As a result, the company asked that the complaint be dismissed.