NOLA Brewing sued by Godzilla movie makers? Is that right?

According to an Associated Press story running around the web, that headline is true. Make no doubt that NOLA Brewing’s MechaHopzilla is a monster (a frighteningly delicious imperial IPA overloaded with hops and clocking in at 8.8 percent ABV, brewed with Bravo, Columbus, Centennial and Citra hops, then dry hopped with Centennial and Citra). Unfortunately, the Japanese filmmakers behind the Godzilla franchise are none too happy about the brand’s name. We quote the article:

The lawsuit was filed Friday in U.S. District Court in New Orleans by Toho Co. Ltd. It includes photographs of the Mechagodzilla character Toho introduced in 1974 and a beer can produced by New Orleans Lager & Ale Brewing Co. LLC, known as NOLA Brewing. The lawsuit says NOLA Brewing did not get permission from or pay Toho to use the trademarked character. Brewery president and CEO Kirk Coco says his company applied for a trademark when the beer went on sale last year. He says he hadn’t heard of Toho until the company filed papers opposing the proposed MechaHopzilla trademark.

We’ve noticed two big trends in beer names: 1) the overuse of the pun (Hopnotch, Country Pumpkin, Prescription Pils, Marzen Scorsese!) and 2) lots of lawsuits and trademark disputes. NOLA Brewing is dealing with the latter because of the use of the former with its MechaHopzilla beer brand. Granted, MechaHopzilla is a fairly awesome beer name, with a great can design and a frikin’ amazing beer tap, but it maybe be more trouble than it’s worth to keep it. We’ll keep you updated.