The answer is YES – regardless of your size. Keep in mind that franchise protection laws were written as a result of distributor lobbying efforts. They were not written for supplier interests. A contract is your only form of protection against laws that are designed to protect distributors – not you. In a contract you […]
For the craft beer industry, 2014 was another banner year. In the years ahead, America’s renewed interest in craft beer will mean a startup venture for some. For others, continued growth will bring new business challenges. At some point in a brewery’s growth, many craft brewers will look to established beer distributors to expand their […]
To all breweries in New York State, I would like to send a friendly reminder that the annual New York State Sales Tax Information Return (“Return”) for the period March 1, 2014 through February 28, 2015 is due on or before March 20, 2015. This Return is required to be filed by all alcoholic beverage […]
So, you are ready to purchase land or a building to expand your operations. One step that should be taken as part of your business due diligence is to determine if there are environmental issues. This will allow the buyer of a property to take advantage of certain defenses to liability under the Comprehensive Environmental […]
[Updated February 19, 2015: Thanks to a great response from beer enthusiasts and NYS brewers like Ithaca Beer Co., Newburgh Brewing Co., Broken Bow Brewery, Community Beer Works, North Brewery, Nedloh Brewing Co., and Swiftwater Brewing Co., I had a ton of new entries (marked with an *) to add to the NYS sour beer […]
Due to a recent change in NY law, even employers that are organized as a New York LLC can be liable for payroll violations! When you are running a business – large or small – one of the last things you may think you have time for is to ensure that your employees are properly recording […]
Choosing a great name for your new brew can reinforce the brand positioning of your brewery and create a certain excitement about the beer. Of course, the name has absolutely no impact on the quality of the beer (Heady Topper by any other name would still smell as dank), but it’s still an important aspect […]
As you probably know, new legislation allows craft brewers to serve beer for consumption on-premises in quantities larger than just the typical 2-ounce tasting glass. “It comes in pints!?” The only caveat is that food has to be offered along with the beers. I’m pretty excited about this new law and I’ve been reviewing it […]
What do a horse, a harp, and an American revolutionary all have in common? They are all symbols of famous beers, of course. When people see those symbols on a bottle of beer, they can immediately identify where the beer comes from. The same goes for the names of those beers. When people think about […]
In my last blog post, The Importance of Trademark Registration for Breweries, I discussed the importance and benefits of obtaining federal trademark registrations for your brewery and important individual beer names. Now, we are going to talk about how a brewer should go about choosing, searching, and clearing brewery/beer names. First, a little background: there […]