Traditionally a term used to refer to marijuana, the word ‘dank’ is now commonly used to describe heavily-hopped ales. In a move which has caused concern in the craft beer community, brewing giant Lion has made a move to trademark the term.
“We have noticed some concern around Lion's Trademark application for Dank," a company spokesperson said. "It is correct that we have applied to trademark Dank for possible use as a brand in a new beer range. It's incorrect though, to say that by registering Dank, we're seeking to prevent the use of the word by other brewers."
Lion argued that the move was standard under trademark law and that "any brewer currently using dank in their beer name would not be affected or forced to change, and dank could continue to be used to describe a beer style in the future.”
However, brewers such as 8 Wired founder Soren Eriksen are sceptical about the move, saying he was concerned that Lion may be more restrictive with the term once the application succeeded.
The trademark application was made to the Intellectual Property Office on April 27 and is currently under review.
