The Abita Brewing Company has dropped plans to pursue legal action against a charity organizer over the term “pub crawl” and agreed to sponsor his next event. Abita’s about-face came less than 24 hours after a Daily Report PM item Wednesday told of a cease-and-desist letter from the company’s attorney to Manu Kamat, who organizes monthly bar tours across downtown Baton Rouge to benefit the New Orleans Council for Community and Justice. The brewery was blasted on Facebook and message boards over the letter.
“Your respect is far more important to us than two little words,” said David Blossman, Abita president, in a press release posted on the brewery’s Facebook page. Abita filed an application to use the trade name “pub crawl” with the Secretary of State in July 1999 and renewed it for another 10 years in July 2009. Abita had ordered Kamat not to use the term “pub crawl” for his events; it also ordered him to give control of the domain name pubcrawlbr.com to the brewery and turn over all promotional materials with the phrase “pub crawl” on it. Kamat says Abita officials told him the reason for the cease-and-desist order was “not to hurt the little guy” but to protect the microbrewery from events organized by bigger corporations. “I’m happy,” says Kamat. “I never wanted a lawsuit.” Kamat’s next pub crawl, set for March 25, will be sponsored by Abita. “You may see more Pub Crawls in the future,” Blossman said. “Some of them may not be sponsored by Abita, but we’re confident you’ll recognize the original when you see it and have a great time.” —Timothy Boone
