August 14, 2015 – Diageo North America, owner of the Captain Morgan brand, has filed a lawsuit against Prep Enterprises LLC, in New York, for infringement of their trademark by use of Captain Amsterdam on their products.
Captain Amsterdam sports a large red hat, long black hair, mustache and a cape that looks awfully like the famous pirate Captain Morgan. The company sells food supplements, vitamins, homeopathic products and beauty treatments. Previously the logo was used for kratom leaves and was known as Captain Kratom. Kratom leaves have medicinal uses including as an alternative for opium. We’re at a loss to understand why a pirate image is appropriate for these products but for Diageo, they are intent on protecting their iconic image on the rum bottle. Incidentally, Captain Morgan was a real person and we wrote about it May 29, 2014 http://www.wineandspirits.com/captain-morgan-sails-again/. Is Captain Amsterdam historic? We haven’t found any record of him.
Claiming that Captain Amsterdam’s “similar” logo is causing “irreparable injury” Diageo stated, “Captain Morgan is one of the most well-known and iconic spirit brands in the U.S. and globally. We will strongly protect our intellectual property rights.”
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