Molson Coors is in the process of a packaging refresh for Keystone Light, chief legal officer Anne-Marie D’Angelo shared with the company’s distributor partners in a memo Tuesday afternoon. The company shared plans for the packaging refresh just days after a jury awarded Stone Brewing Company $56 million in its long-simmering trademark infringement lawsuit against Molson Coors over the economy brand’s 2017 packaging change that split “Key” and “Stone” on cans.
“We were already considering a packaging refresh for Keystone, which is now underway,” D’Angelo wrote. “We will share details of those changes with you in the weeks ahead. The brand team will also update the materials available on the graphics library very soon.”
Beer Marketer’s Insights first reported Wednesday on the memo, which Brewbound obtained from Molson Coors.
In the memo, D’Angelo stressed that the jury’s verdict “is solely between Stone Brewing and Molson Coors.”
“We are concerned and disappointed that Stone Brewing and their lawyers appear to be trying to interfere with our relationship with you by making inflammatory allegations about ‘contributory infringers,’” she wrote. “There is no liability for distributors or retailers in this lawsuit because Molson Coors will fully comply with any judgment entered, which will encompass all sales of Keystone. We stand behind our products, and we stand behind you.”
D’Angelo noted that the court has yet to enter a judgment on the verdict and there is “no injunction of any kind.”
“In the coming weeks, the Court will decide a number of motions and requests by the parties that could significantly impact the jury’s verdict — or nullify it altogether. Depending on the outcome of those pending requests, an appeal may follow as well,” she added.
D’Angelo closed apologizing to Molson Coors’ wholesalers “for any inconvenience,” adding that the company will keep them apprised of “the facts including if any order or final judgment is entered that would require changes in how we market our Keystone products.”
The post-trial motions could take up to three months for the judge in the case to rule on, a Stone Brewing spokesperson told Brewbound, citing the San Diego craft brewery’s legal team.