Controversy Brewing Around Colombian Beer
The legal battle is between a beer called Duh and the brew in Fox's show The Simpsons called Duff.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
And today's last word in business is: duh. That's right, D-U-H.
That's a Colombian beer, and it's at the center of a brewing legal battle between two businessmen and 20th Century Fox. The golden ale was originally called Duff Beer, and it looks just like the beer served up at Moe's Tavern on "The Simpsons." But 20th Century Fox complained that the two brothers who founded the company were infringing on a trademark here - Duff, it's from "The Simpsons." So the brothers said they changed the name to DuH.
The packaging however, appears not to have changed very much at all. It still resembles the brew loved by Homer Simpson, the same colors, the same cartoon-like font. But the brothers just said that the two lowercase letter Fs linked together were actually the letter H. Duh.
An attorney for Fox says that's still not their brand to sell. But DuH contends that Fox's brand exists only in cartoons - not reality.
That's the business news on MORNING EDITION, from NPR News. I'm Steve Inskeep.
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