After more than four years of fighting international beverage company Campari Group in a trademark dispute, Chase Baron and Sean Smith of Denver-based roofing contractor Skyyguard won their legal battle this week.
The David and Goliath battle over their company’s logo – and its alleged similarity to the logo for Campari-produced Skyy vodka, which could impair “the distinctiveness of the famous mark,” ended with an administrative trademark judge dismissing the liquor giant’s notice of opposition. The judge said Campari failed to prove that Skyy vodka’s logo has risen to the status of “a household name” in the U.S., so the company’s argument about potentially diluting it fell flat.
“We finally have an answer after four and a half years of fighting,” said Baron, Skyyguard’s chief executive officer, in an interview. “We always felt this would be the outcome.”from Campari America, eventually culminating into an oral hearing in April.Sean Smith and Chase Baron like the logo for their business Skyyguard because the two Ys look like people holding hands and also form the shape of a house being protected by the elements, a fitting image for a roofing company.
Along with its office in Denver, the company — which is the two-man team of Baron and Smith, plus a number of subcontractors — has locations in Texas and Florida.