From Top Gear to Tap Beer: James May gets a spanner out

James May has spent much of his career surrounded by tools. His latest one comes in a pint glass.

The former Top Gear presenter has teamed up with Dorset brewer Hall & Woodhouse to launch The Spanner, a 3.8% traditional cask ale brewed with British ingredients. The idea is deliberately uncomplicated: a dependable British beer which, in May's words, has a single purpose, “to be good enough to make you want another pint.” From a trade mark perspective, however, THE SPANNER is rather more interesting than it first appears.

Function

One of the first questions when choosing a new brand is whether the name is actually capable of functioning as a trade mark.

There is an understandable temptation in the food and drink sector to choose names which tell consumers exactly what they are buying. The problem is that the more descriptive a name becomes, the more difficult it can be to monopolise.

THE SPANNER doesn't describe beer. It doesn't tell you whether the contents are bitter, pale, hoppy, strong, traditional or refreshing. From a trade mark perspective, this is a good thing! Used for beer, "Spanner" is essentially arbitrary. Consumers can remember it, talk about it and associate it with one particular product. It also fits rather neatly with James May's motoring persona without simply calling the product JAMES MAY'S BEER.

In branding terms, it’s doing quite a lot of work for two words. However, coming up with a clever name is only half the job. The next question is whether somebody else got there first.

Searching

Before investing in pump clips, cans, websites, advertising campaigns and a nationwide launch, a new brand should be searched against existing trade mark rights; and that search shouldn't simply involve typing the identical name into a database. Earlier marks which are sufficiently similar can also cause problems, depending upon the goods and services they protect.

That is why clearance work is much cheaper when conducted before launch rather than after several thousand branded pint glasses have arrived from the factory.

Ownership

Celebrity collaborations add another wrinkle. THE SPANNER has been developed by Hall & Woodhouse in collaboration with May and is being sold within the brewer's pub estate as well as at May's own Royal Oak in Wiltshire. This all makes ownership particularly important.

Is the trade mark owned by the brewer? By May? Through a separate company? Who can use it if the collaboration ends? Who owns spin-off products?

These questions are considerably easier to answer in an agreement before the beer becomes successful. Protection may also extend beyond beer in Class 32. A growing drinks brand might eventually need to think about pub or hospitality services, clothing, glassware and other merchandise.

There is a broader lesson here. THE SPANNER is supposed to do one thing properly. A good trade mark should too: it’s primary function is to tell customers whose product they are buying! 

If you're developing a new beer, spirit, food or drink brand, it is worth making sure the name is yours before everybody else discovers it.

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Dorset-based brewer and pub company Hall & Woodhouse has created a new Badger beer, named The Spanner, in partnership with Top Gear legend and pub owner James May.

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