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Dublin bottler says Dr Pepper Snapple trying to put it out of business [Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas](Fort Worth Star-Telegram (TX) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Aug. 10--Dublin Dr Pepper, the soft drink's oldest and smallest bottler, has responded aggressively to Dr Pepper Snapple Group's lawsuit for trademark and licensing violations, arguing in a court filing that it has long been permitted to sell products outside its territory and alleging that the corporation is trying to put it out of business. The family-owned bottler, which operates about 80 miles southwest of Fort Worth, also bared a long list of Dr Pepper chief executives who've lavished praise on Dublin's distinctiveness over the years in continuing to use sugar rather than high-fructose corn syrup. "By its suit, corporate Dr Pepper seeks to eliminate Dublin Dr Pepper, a company that has been in business for 120 years," the company said in its response and counterclaims, filed just before midnight Tuesday. The small-town company with 37 employees maintains that it has the legal right to use its unique "Dublin Dr Pepper" label. It demanded a trial by jury to prove it did not violate its 2009 contract, which the brand owner says stripped the bottler of the right to use its own logo. Before changing its attitude, corporate Dr Pepper repeatedly "acknowledged, recognized, approved and celebrated" Dublin Dr Pepper and had agreed to allow it to use toll-free phone sales beyond its franchise territory, the bottler claimed. In its suit filed June 28 in federal court in Sherman, Plano-based Dr Pepper Snapple said that the Dublin bottler violated a licensing agreement by selling in other franchise territories and by using an unauthorized logo. Dublin Dr Pepper refused to stop shipping beyond its territory or give up its logo unless it was "compensated," it claimed. On Wednesday, the corporation issued a statement saying that it is not trying to prevent Dublin Dr. Pepper from making the product with cane sugar, only to force it to "sell only within their six-county territory and stop marketing and packaging Dr Pepper as Dublin Dr Pepper." "We tried to resolve these issues with Dublin without turning to the courts," the corporate statement said. "We even offered alternative packaging that promotes their heritage and their use of cane sugar, but in a way that stays true to the famous Dr Pepper trademark. They not only refused this compromise but actually demanded money to honor their agreement, which left us no choice but to file suit." For its part, Dublin Dr. Pepper suspects that the lawsuit was filed because corporate Dr Pepper recently began selling its own sugar-cane version of the soft drink. In a statement released Wednesday, the independent bottler's attorney, Steve Wolens of Dallas, said: "Dublin Dr Pepper has been a loyal and committed supporter of the Dr Pepper brand longer than any other bottler. Despite benefiting from the relationship with Dublin Dr Pepper for more than 120 years, Dr Pepper Snapple has turned its back on Dublin and the goodwill among the thousands of people who love this true Texas treasure that comes in an 8-ounce bottle." In its David vs. Goliath battle, the small bottler used the large corporation's own past statements as eye-poking stones. The filing quotes the Dr Pepper Snapple CEO Larry Young as commenting in 2009 on the Dallas public television station, KERA, that "nothing tastes better than a Dublin Dr Pepper when it's ice cold." Young also was quoted as saying: "It's the original Dr Pepper formula with the Imperial Sugar in it and their following is unbelievable." When it wants to, corporate Dr Pepper has allowed variations of its trademark brand name. Wolens argued that corporate Dr Pepper didn't stop a Pepsi entity from selling a beet-sugar version in one market as "Heritage Dr Pepper," and that it has allowed geographical locations to be used in company logos of bottlers in North Carolina and elsewhere. The attorney tried to show an erratic pattern in corporate approval of trademark use in recent years, the Plano headquarters allowing "In God we trust" on a Dr Pepper merchandise at one point, then disallowing it last year. "The 'actions' of corporate Dr Pepper over the past decades speak louder than its newly created lawsuit 'words.' Virtually everything Corporate Dr Pepper has previously said and done are inconsistent with its lawsuit." With just 1/10th of one percent of the soft drink's sales -- less than Young's annual compensation, it noted -- Dublin Dr. Pepper asked how its activities could injure the brand owner. The Central Texas bottler said the suit has created a popular outcry so emphatic that corporate Dr Pepper removed critical comments from its Facebook page -- "presumably because they were damaging to its misguided lawsuit." Barry Shlachter, 817-390-7718 ___ To see more of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.dfw.com. Copyright (c) 2011, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com, e-mail [email protected], or call 866-280-5210 (outside the United States, call +1 312-222-4544) |