DUTTON, Mich. - The owners of Railtown Brewing Company in Dutton say they welcome the opening of a new brewery in nearby Byron Center.
“We love seeing breweries go into communities and do good things for those communities,” says Railtown co-founder Justin Buiter.
But at Railtown they do object to naming the new brewery Railbird.
“It is very similar,” explains Buiter. “Same number of letters. Same number of syllables. Same Cadence. Unfortunately, it is just too similar to ours.”
Railtown owners are concerned customers will be confused about another brewery with the word “rail” in its name 10 miles away. They have filed a trademark infringement complaint in federal court. But only after trying to reach a settlement, brewer to brewer.
“We sat down with them had a couple pints of beer and kind of talked over the issue,” says Buiter.“Tried to work it out the old-fashioned way and weren't able to reach any type of agreement. Right now, it is in the hands of our attorneys.”
The town of Dutton popped up around a railroad station and that is why the owners say they chose the name Railtown for their brewery.
The old Byron Hotel, future home of Railbird Brewery, also had a railroad connection and a big chicken outside to promote their chicken dinners. That’s apparently explains the name Railbird.
“We want to see this settled as soon as possible so we can move on with our lives,” says Buiter. “We just want to brew beer.”
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