Who is the current owner of the rights to the "Primo Beer" brand and name?

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Request for Question Clarification by rainbow-ga on 14 Sep 2005 17:34 PDT

Hi tinagirl79,

Here's an excerpt taken from an article in the Pacific Business News
titled "Primo is pau"
http://pacific.bizjournals.com/pacific/stories/1998/05/04/story2.html?page=1

"[Stroh] certainly made a go of trying to get it back to being brewed
in Hawaii," Dolim said, adding the company was willing to offer a
subsidy and lend the label to a Hawaii brewer while retaining brewing
control and product rights. He also said Stroh was not necessarily
concerned with making money.
(...)
Founded in 1850 by Bernard Stroh, the company remains family-owned and
distributes beers including Stroh's, Old Milwaukee, Schlitz, Schaefer,
Special Export, Old Style, Rainier, Henry Weinhard, Schmidt's, Lone
Star, Champale, Colt 45 and Mickey's to more than 70 countries.

Stroh acquired Primo in 1982 in the purchase of the Jos. Schlitz Brewing Co. 

Reformulating the recipe, featuring a replica of a 1904 label and
launching a new promotional campaign, the company had hoped to restore
the beer to its former stature.

Right now there are no plans to do anything with rights to the beer,
although theoretically Primo could be revived at a later time, which
is something at least Dolim would like to see."

http://pacific.bizjournals.com/pacific/stories/1998/05/04/story2.html?page=3


Does the above information suffice as an answer to your question?

Best regards,
Rainbow

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Clarification of Question by tinagirl79-ga on 15 Sep 2005 12:01 PDT

Thank you Rainbow, but while I was doing my research I learned that
Stroh's went out of business and sold it's beer's to Pabst & Miller. 
From that point on, I couldn't find any more information on Primo
Beer.  I would just like to find out how currently owns the brand name
as well as the merchandise / copyright rights to the name.

-tinagirl79

I'm not sure if this is helpful, but here is the trademark application
as it was originally filed in 1986 by Stroh.

These trademark patents are Still listed as "live" trademarks, so I
can only assume that they are either owned by Stroh, or whatever
entity absorbed them (Pabst & Miller)

http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=toc&state=r0a1vt.1.1&p_search=searchss&p_L=50&BackReference=&p_plural=yes&p_s_PARA1=&p_tagrepl%7E%3A=PARA1%24LD&expr=PARA1+AND+PARA2&p_s_PARA2=primo+beer&p_tagrepl%7E%3A=PARA2%24COMB&p_op_ALL=AND&a_default=search&a_search=Submit+Query&a_search=Submit+Query

I know the link is bulky, but a simple cut/paste will take you
straight to the trademark status according to "United States Patents &
Trademarks Office"

There's a lot of trademark jargon on the page, and while I attempted
to decipher what Section 8 and Section 15 filings meant (The current
status for the name), I had some difficulty in doing so...

Here's some contact information for Thomas E Spath however, he looks
like the guy you should talk to regarding all trademark info for Primo
Beer

THOMAS E. SPATH (Attorney of record)

THOMAS E. SPATH 
DAVIS HOXIE FAITHFULL & HAPGOOD 
45 ROCKEFELLER PLAZA 
NEW YORK, N.Y. 10111 

(212) 949 9022

regards, 

johnny

(search and answer time 25 minutes)

Although johnny_moniker-ga was on the right track, not being an
intellectual property professional he tripped up. It is a common
beginner's and amateur mistake.

The USPTO's records about trademarks in TESS about ownership and
correspondence are often outdated; they really aren't updated between
section 8 or 15 affidavits. To find out who the current owner of a
trademark (or a patent) is according to recorded assignments -- it is
always possible that there are unrecorded assignments out there -- you
must switch over to the appropirate assignment database at the USPTO.

By entering the two trademarks found in TESS (Serial Numbers 73612443
and 73612421) in the Trademark assignments database, you find out that
the trademarks are assigned to S&P Company and Pabst Company, both
with the same address, with LaSalle Bank having an active security
interest.

http://assignments.uspto.gov/assignments/q?db=tm&qt=sno&reel=&frame=&sno=73612421&rno=&asnr=&asnri=&asne=&asnei=&asns=&apct=&apcti=&rgst=&rgsti=
http://assignments.uspto.gov/assignments/q?db=tm&qt=sno&reel=&frame=&sno=73612443&rno=&asnr=&asnri=&asne=&asnei=&asns=&apct=&apcti=&rgst=&rgsti=