Revenge Tastes Great for Brewer in Lawsuit Over ‘Vampire Slayer’ Name

One of the craft beers with the most unusual names in the business is Clown Shoes Beer. You'll have the chance to sample their beer at the Lite Rock Grapes and Grain Festival, Saturday, June 7th at the Trump Taj Mahal.

In 2013, Clown Shoes Brewing found themselves involved in a trademark infringement lawsuit with another beverage company over the use of the "Vampire Slayer" name.

Clown Shoes lost the lawsuit, but you could say, they won the war of creative revenge.

Here is Graham Averill's telling of the story in pastemagazine.com.

"Clown Shoes Brewing found itself on the wrong end of a trademark lawsuit recently because of its Vampire Slayer imperial stout. Turns out, another beverage company that specializes in vampire themed wines, began producing Vampire Pale Ale about the same time that Vampire Slayer hit the market. Long story short, Clown Shoes gets sued and has to ditch the Vampire Slayer stout label.

Bummer. Most brewers would have just binge-watched an entire season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer on Netflix and moved on. But in a stroke of vengeful genius, Clown Shoes decided to release the same smoky, malty beer (brewed with holy water!) under a new name—Undead Party Crasher. The genius of the new beer is in the details of the label, where a cartoon vampire slayer gets to take his aggression out on werewolves/trademark attorneys. Insert diabolical laugh here.

Touche`, Clown Shoes."