Magic Hat files defamation charges against West Sixth

The latest turn in the public West Sixth Brewery, Magic Hat battle over trademark infringement is a new filing from Magic Hat, claiming West Sixth’s social media efforts have hurt its brand and financially damaged the company. Magic Hat has requested preliminary injunctive relief.

From the Lexington Herald Leader:

Magic Hat’s most recent filing said West Sixth’s advertising campaign was “designed to manipulate the emotions of the parties’ customer base and spur them into action to spam Magic Hat with more than 75,000 insulting and abusive emails spread across five email accounts, cover Magic Hat’s Facebook page with negative comments and promises to never drink Magic Hat beer again, and pressure Magic Hat’s retail accounts into pulling its beer from their taps and shelves.”

West Sixth acknowledged this latest move by Magic Hat in another Facebook page update:

[T]hey’ve amended their lawsuit to up the stakes by including additional charges of “defamation” and “false advertising”, accusing us of lying throughout our posts online. … And now they’ve asked the court for an injunction for “immediate relief” against our public communications because they realize they have a lot to lose from the public hearing the truth about their legal tactics.

It is possible that this unfortunate scrape will come to a conclusion soon as Magic Hat has requested a hearing as soon as possible. Again, from West Sixth’s Facebook post:

That said, we do have some good news – because of the pressure you all applied, they’ve also agreed to go into a mediation session with a magistrate judge. This will likely happen over the next week or so.

Be sure to check out that story on the Lexington Herald Ledger for more details. To read West Sixth’s unabridged thoughts on this latest news, head directly to the Facebook page.