As seen on Mashable – A song of beer and weed: How Lagunitas dodged a drug bust to become a craft beer powerhouse by Sam Laird
The Craft Beer Attorney’s excerpt:
Had the bust happened today, it’s possible Lagunitas would have consulted a San Diego woman named Candace Moon. Calling herself The Craft Beer Attorney, she occupies a new legal space created by a booming industry.
When Candace started her practice in 2009, she only had enough work to support herself part-time. The United States had 1,653 breweries then, according to the Brewers Association (BA), a trade group representing the craft beer industry. Four years prior, when the ABC busted Lagunitas, that number had been 1,447. By June 2014, it had reached 3,040. Today, Candace’s practice is full-time — and then some.
Trademark issues, Candace told Mashable, now make up half her practice. As craft beer explodes in popularity, all the good monikers are being snatched up, leading to legal disputes over beer branding rights.
