{"id":223273,"date":"2022-07-26T16:44:32","date_gmt":"2022-07-26T21:44:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=223273"},"modified":"2022-07-27T11:41:44","modified_gmt":"2022-07-27T16:41:44","slug":"texas-lottery-claims-it-owns-texas-two-step-name-sues-vodka-brand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/texas-lottery-claims-it-owns-texas-two-step-name-sues-vodka-brand\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas Lottery Claims It Owns \u2018Texas Two Step\u2019 Trademark, Sues Vodka Brand"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Texas Lottery Commission is two-stepping a vodka distillery to court. That’s because it claims the copyright of the aforementioned country dance<\/a> is property of the state.<\/p>\n

\"Texas
The Texas Lottery has run its popular Texas Two Step draw since 2001. But can a lottery product really be confused with a drink? And what do any of these things have to do with line dancing? (Image: Texas Lottery Commission)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ali Ansari owns a \u201ccraft\u201d vodka distillery outside Houston<\/a>. He decided to call his signature brand of vodka \u201cTexas Two Step\u201d after the much-loved dance and filed to trademark it with the US Patent and Trademark Office. The application was accepted.<\/p>\n

The only problem was the Texas Lottery has offered a $1 draw ticket called \u201cTexas Two Step\u201d since 2001. And it believes Ansari is two-stepping on its toes.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The lottery owns the patent for the mark for gambling products. But it argues the vodka brand will cause confusion among consumers and damage its reputation by association.<\/p>\n

Texas Hold\u2019em Polka<\/strong><\/h2>\n

In April, the Patent Office’s Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) determined that the two brands could happily co-exist without causing undue confusion. Now, the lottery commission is asking a US District Court in Austin to reverse that decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlaintiff has enormous goodwill in its \u2018Texas Two Step\u2019 mark,\u201d claims the commission in its lawsuit. \u201cAs a state agency, Plaintiff must exercise caution in the advertising of its goods or services in order to protect the goodwill in the mark or make sure that the trust and confidence that the public has in Plaintiff and in its goods and services is not undermined.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

If Texas Two Step Vodka is allowed to proceed to registration, the Lottery argues, it is likely to \u201ccause confusion, or to cause mistake, or to deceive as to the affiliation, connection, or association of Defendant or Defendant\u2019s products with Plaintiff or Plaintiff\u2019s products or services, and\/or as to the origin, sponsorship, or approval of Defendant\u2019s commercial activities.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The Lottery says the association of its product with alcoholic beverages could \u201cadversely impact\u201d and \u201cdilute\u201d its brand. This could cause \u201cirreparable damage,\u201d including loss of revenue and sales and \u201ctarnish Plaintiff\u2019s mark and the goodwill therein in the minds of consumers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Who\u2019s Tarnishing Whom?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

But Ansari told The Houston Chronicle<\/em> this week that the idea his distillery could taint the name of a gambling operation was ridiculous.<\/p>\n

Our argument was, you\u2019re in the gambling business, which mostly is illegal in Texas,\u201d<\/strong> he said. \u201cAnd we\u2019re in the legal distilled spirits business. So, who\u2019s tarnishing who?\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

His lawyer, Steve Abbot, put it just as succinctly: \u201cI have Delta faucets in my home. But I don\u2019t get confused when I buy a Delta airline ticket,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Texas Lottery Commission is two-stepping a vodka distillery to court. That’s because it claims the copyright of the aforementioned country dance is property of the state. Ali Ansari owns a \u201ccraft\u201d vodka distillery outside Houston. He decided to call his signature brand of vodka \u201cTexas Two Step\u201d after the much-loved dance and filed to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":223274,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[60,13699],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTexas Lottery Claims It Owns \u2018Texas Two Step\u2019 Name, Sues Vodka Brand<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Texas Lottery Commission sues Houston distillery over \u201cTexas Two Step Vodka\u201d name, claiming consumer confusion.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/texas-lottery-claims-it-owns-texas-two-step-name-sues-vodka-brand\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Texas Lottery Claims It Owns \u2018Texas Two Step\u2019 Name, Sues Vodka Brand\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Texas Lottery Commission sues Houston distillery over \u201cTexas Two Step Vodka\u201d name, claiming consumer confusion.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/texas-lottery-claims-it-owns-texas-two-step-name-sues-vodka-brand\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-07-26T21:44:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-07-27T16:41:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/texas-two-step.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"675\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/texas-lottery-claims-it-owns-texas-two-step-name-sues-vodka-brand\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/texas-lottery-claims-it-owns-texas-two-step-name-sues-vodka-brand\/\",\"name\":\"Texas Lottery Claims It Owns \u2018Texas Two Step\u2019 Name, Sues Vodka Brand\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/texas-lottery-claims-it-owns-texas-two-step-name-sues-vodka-brand\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/texas-lottery-claims-it-owns-texas-two-step-name-sues-vodka-brand\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/texas-two-step.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-07-26T21:44:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-07-27T16:41:44+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"Texas Lottery Commission sues Houston distillery over \u201cTexas Two Step Vodka\u201d name, claiming consumer confusion.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/texas-lottery-claims-it-owns-texas-two-step-name-sues-vodka-brand\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/texas-lottery-claims-it-owns-texas-two-step-name-sues-vodka-brand\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/texas-lottery-claims-it-owns-texas-two-step-name-sues-vodka-brand\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/texas-two-step.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/texas-two-step.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":675,\"caption\":\"The Texas Lottery has run its popular Texas Two Step draw since 2001. 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