The Beermat Blog

Thirstys.co.uk Limited a well established, UK based manufacturer of beermats, has rejected, what they argue amounts to a spurious and unfounded a claim by The Beermat Corporation Limited, over the use of the generic term ‘the beer mat company’.

UK registered, but Dutch controlled beer mat supplier, The Beermat Corporation Limited (”TBCL”), has attempted to claim a monopoly right to the generic term ‘the beer mat company’, insisting that Thirstys.co.uk Limited (Thirstys) use of the domain www.beermatcompany.co.uk, amounted to a case of ‘passing off’. In doing so, solicitors acting on behalf of TBCL, have attempted to secure assurances and claim rights to the domain’s www.beermatcompany.co.uk, www.beermatcompany.com and www.beermatcompany.eu, which have been registered to Thirstys since April 2006.

A spokesperson for Thirstys.co.uk Limited said, “Quite apart from the fact that we do not use the term ‘the beer mat company’ in any of our advertising, we find it incomprehensible that any company should be so aggorant as to try and claim monopoly rights over the term ‘beer mat company’ in what is quite clearly a generic term used by many companies to describe their activities within the beermat market. ”

Thirstys also flatly rejected a claim by TBCL that the use of domain names which include the words “beermatcompany” amounts to passing off. The Thirstys spokesperson added, “The temerity of the principals at The Beermat Corporation astounds us. To claim that Thirstys could be guilty of passing off is simply ridiculous, not least because we, quite clearly, would not try and pass ourselves off as a company that is a foreign controlled beer mat supplier, when we are actually a UK based, and controlled, manufacturer of beer mats. Quite apart from the obvious, our sites clearly include the well known Thirstys logo and repeatedly make reference to our company name. ”

Thirstys have been angered by the actions and claims of TBCL, which they see as offering up a weak, ill conceived, baseless and retaliatory response to Thirstys warning to TBCL, over their blatant use of the term “Thirsty” in their Google Adword advertising. Thirstys argue strongly that they have built up substantial value in the term Thirstys and the use of this term, is being used to target Thirstys customers, given, unlike The Beermat Corportation Limited, Thirstys.co.uk Limited is a UK controlled, uk based, manufacturer of beermats, whereasThe Beermat Corporation Limited, whilst being registered in the UK and claiming to be a manufacturer, is in fact operating from an accommodation address, has no manufacturing or print plant and is controlled from Holland.

A defiant Thirstys has made clear that, whilst they completely understand why a company may want to be associated with a well established and genuine UK based manufacturer of beermats, they cannot, nor will they stand idly by whilst any organisation attempts to capitalise on this by claiming exclusive rights to the term ‘beermat company’.

There are in fact just 4 manufacturers of genuine beermats in the UK, these organisation have UK based employees and at least one printing press, this list does not include The Beermat Corporation Limited, which is believed to use one of the UK beermat manufacturers to print its beermats.

Thirstys believe that the use, by The Beermat Corporation Limited of the website description, ‘The Beer MatCorporation Ltd are a[sic] manufacturers[sic] and printer [sic] of customised beer mats, drinks coasters and drip mats Based in Lancashire, UK’. is in itself misleading.  This is because, firstly, the generally accepted definition of a manufacturer is “a person or company in the business of manufacturing’ esp., a factory owner“. Whereas The Beermat Corporation Limited do not appear to own any print press in the UK and in fact, are understood to outsource the printing to one of the 4 UK manufacturers. Secondly, the suggestion that the company is based in Lancashire, whilst technically true, it is open to interpretation, because, whilst it may be registered in Manchester (not Lancashire), Thirstys understand that the business is actually using an accommodation address which is believed to be shared by up to 200 other companies. In addition, Thirstys has been unable to establish that there are any UK based employees of The Beermat Corporation Limited, though is says that it is prepared to correct this statement if this turns our to be incorrect.

The Thirstys spokesperson closed by saying “There are many genuine, UK based beermat companies in the UK and the vast majority offer an excellent service and do not find it necessary to describe themselves as beermat manufactuer. We welcome competition in the market, which helps create a larger market for beermats and ensures that we all kept on our toes. That said, we firmly draw the line on anyone attempting to claim an automatic right to domain names that use a generic term and we will, as always, protect our position”.

UK based beermat manufacturer, Thirstys.co.uk Limited have taken the unusual step of advising their existing and potential customers of an advertisement currently running with Google Adwords is using the term ‘Thirsty?’. The company believe the use of this word is likely to cause confusion in the market given Thirstys is a well know brand in the UK and the name is synonymous with beermat manufacturing.

A company spokesperson said “We have had a number of customers indicate that they believed this advertisment was for our company and they have responded in accordance with this belief. The principle issue here, is that it is very clearly not difficult to confuse the term ‘Thirsty?’ with our own trademark ‘Thirstys’.

Added to which, because the website uses a generic name ‘beermatcompany.com, the casual browser is given no clue that this website has nothing to do with Thirstys until they reach the site. From what we can ascertain, whilst describing themselves as a manufacturer, this organisation does not actually own a print press. In addition, despite the fact that it publishes a UK address (which is shared by as many as 200 other companies), try as we might, we have been unable to identify any UK based employees, only a director based in Holland. The reality is we can all dress as an airline pilot, but in the final analysis, to those in the know, we would still be an ordinary member of the public in a uniform!

For the record we wish to state that Thirstys.co.uk Limited have no association with The Beermat Company or The Beermat Corporation Limited and we shall be seeking guidance from our legal advisors regarding the form of this particular advertisement.”

In the meantime, Thirstys have asked that any individual or company that may have experienced similar confusion as a consequence of this advertisement to get in touch with them.

It is perhaps appropriate, that when Bath & North East Somerset Council wanted to launch a campaign highlighting the need to recycle, that they should include beermats as one part of their media campaign. This is because, apart from the obvious benefit of full-colour, litho-printed beermat being able to deliver a message with impact, beermats also 100% recyclable. Clearly demonstrating that Bath & North East Somerset Council practice what they preach.

The council used buses to deliver their message, as well as posters and beermats which were distributed to local businesses. Funding for this initiative was been granted by WRAP (the Waste & Resources Action Programme) established to promote resource efficiency.

A not-for-profit company, WRAP is backed by substantial Government funding from Defra and the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Apart from being 100% recyclable, it is also worth noting that genuine beermats are produced from wood-pulp. The pulp is typically constructed from a mix of recycled paper pulp (about 85%) and Scandinavian indigenous softwood. The softwood is typically purchased from forests that adhere to the sustainable forestry programme, where more trees are planted, than felled.

Genuine pulp-wood beermats can be designed, manufactured and printed by UK based beermat manufacturers such as Thirstys.co.uk Limited, an established beermat company based in the Midlands.

When Hambleton District Council launched a campaign urging victims of domestic violence to seek advice and support, they included printed beermats as part of their high impact, media campaign. Beermats were printed with a picture of a fist and an uncompromising message “hit me, kick me, punch me, love me” together with helpline numbers. These beermats were subsequently distributed to Northallerton, Thirsk and Easingwold areas.

Local authorities, government agencies and police forces are increasingly including beermats as an integral part of local media campaigns, demonstrating the versatility and the power of this particular advertising medium.

Beermats are available in the UK through advertising agencies, promotional houses, print brokers and direct through the beermat manufacturers.

When the Warwickshire Police wanted to track down a person of interest, they used beermats to support their poster campaign. Pictures of the person wanted for questioning was printed on the beermats which were subsequently distributed to pubs and clubs in the local area.

This is not the first time the Police have used beermats to communicate with the public in relation to the apprehension of suspects or when seeking information in relation to an alleged offence. For example, West Midlands Police also used beermats to highlight their campaign for more information in relation to a murder investigation, these beermats were distributed to biker pubs and cafes.

The Metropolitan Police have used beermats to communicate public safety messages, domestic violence, anti-drugs campaigns and other targeted messages.

These campaigns demonstrate in tangible way the versatility, flexibility and value beermats can offer delivering campaign messages. Beermats are available in the UK through advertising agencies, promotional houses, print brokers and direct through the beermat manufacturers.

When Northamptonshire Police wanted to introduce offices of their Community Safety Team, they opted to use beermats provided by UK manufacturer Thirstys to design and print their messages. Beermats were handed out to the public and placed in local pubs and clubs across the area served by the Community Safety Team.

In addition to introducing officers of the CST, the beermats were also used to appeal to the public to support the team by reporting crime and any concerns to the local officers. Because Thirstys beermats are litho printed in full colour, the clarity of the images was excellent.

A spokeperson for Thirstys said “We believe this was an excellent local initiative and providing a perfect opportunity to demonstrate how beermats can be used as a high impact, cost-effective method of getting an important message over. Furthermore, because the beermats are 100% recyclable, this method of advertising is environmentally friendly”.

Thirstys.co.uk Limited is a UK based manufacturer of beermats. Thirstys have lead the way in demonstrating how beermats can be used for non-alcohol marketing and branding exercisees and have eased the process by introducing new production and printing techniques which make it possible to print much smaller volumes at exceptional prices. Thirstys allow customers to order as few as 25 beermats, which are litho-printed, in full colour on genuine beermat (pulpboard) board.