The details aren’t exactly clear from the news reports, but it seems that BrewDog’s lawyers went in hard when they got a sniff that a new bar in Birmingham opened under the same “Lone Wolf” name.

Threats of legal action followed, the non-dominant pup backed away and changed its name to “The Wolf”, but the backlash for BrewDog (allegations of hypocrisy and not staying true to its “punk” ideals) has probably caused more damage to the BrewDog brand than anything a “Lone Wolf” pub in Birmingham could have done.

Whatever the legal rights and wrongs – and they are not always clear-cut in these circumstances, where everything usually turns on the likelihood of confusion and existence of a misrepresentation  – BrewDog’s experience has drawn attention back to the real purpose of branding and trade marks, and why they matter.

Lawyers (and businesses over-influenced by lawyers) can often lose sight of it, but branding is about courting and keeping a target demographic. The purpose of the law associated with branding is to stop competitors from unfairly using that branding to poach that target demographic after the courting has been done.

Over the last 5-10 years the brewing industry’s recognition and use of the power of branding has developed at break-neck speed. Its role in the growth of the craft ale movement has been huge. We all  know that a cool name (brewery and beer) and cool pump clip demands a new beer’s selection more than anything else.

BrewDog was a genuine early adopter. The branding was in your face like nothing before in this country, and people not only liked the taste but liked being associated with the brand and what BrewDog told them it stood for. This time it seems to have lost its way. It does not really matter whether they were right or wrong legally. Commercially, that pub in Birmingham was never going to cause them any real harm. Reputationally, going after that pub in Birmingham in the way they have almost certainly has done.

Don’t get me wrong – there are often circumstances where enforcing trade marks (and other intellectual property rights) in this industry is absolutely the right thing to do and might even be essential.

But be smart about it. Assess the legal, commercial and reputational risk together, and only take action if it feels fair and right and your customers will accept it. When the use of the brand (including its enforcement by lawyers) stops courting and keeping the punters but actively turns them away, something has gone badly wrong, and it is time to remember what the brand stood for in the first place.